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CELEBRATid 



OF THE 



275th Anniversary 



Southampton, N. Y. 




1640-1915 




aass_Jl/a3__ 






Celebration of the 

Two Hundred and 

Seventy-fifth Anniversary 



of the 



Founding of the Town of 
Southampton, N. Y. 




^Southampton 



The first English settlement in the State of New York 



JUNE 12, 1915 



1640-1915 



JOHN H. HUNT 

PUBLISHER 

SAG HARBOR. N. Y. 



PREFACE 

The Town of Southampton, New York, was founded 
by a company of those sturdy people who emigrated from 
England in 1620 and in the years following, who came 
neither with the spirit of adventure nor to gain wealth, 
but because they had seen a vision. A new idea was taking 
possession of men. the dream of a larger, fuller, freer life. 
A New World was needed for its expansion and develop- 
ment. 

The history of the New England colonies — and South- 
ampton was in all essentials a part of New England — re- 
veals the fact that while many differences arose as to policy 
and methods of government, they were united upon the idea 
of civil and religious freedom. Narrow as they often were 
in their own conduct, they still firmly held to an ideal which 
they saw. but which was larger than themselves. 

Mankind is not mocked in its aspirations for the truth. 
Its aspirations are both a promise and a prophecy. It was 
so with our forefathers, it is true to-day and must always 
be so. 

The celebration of the two hundred and seventy-fifth 
anniversary of the founding of the town was designed to 
do honor to those things which were true and noble in the 
days gone by; to re-emphasize those truths upon which jus- 
tice and liberty have been built up in this country, to por- 
tray in visual form the life of those earHer days, its home. 
its democracy and its love of truth and righteousness, and 
to impress these things firmly upon the mind of the present 
generation. Thus the past would not be dead history, but 
lealized as being vitally linked with the present and as a 
necessary foundation of the life of to-day. 

It was also the purpose to make this two hundred and 
seventy-fifth year the date for the establishment of a 
memorial of the past in the shape of a permanent loan ex- 
hibition which would make possible the preservation of the 
wealth of historical material in Southampton and vicinity 
which would otherwise be lost to future generations. 



The success of the celebration exceeded our most san- 
guine expectation. The support given the undertaking by 
the people of Southampton could not have been more united 
or generous. 

It is probable that at least fifteen hundred were engaged, 
directly or indirectly, and we feel that in large measure 
the purpose of the effort was achieved. The activities were 
purely and strictly historical. Nothing inconsistent with 
this purpose entered into the occasion, and the celebration 
will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. 

The celebration was of and by the Southampton people, 
and the beautiful community spirit which prevailed through- 
out the preparation and rendition will always linger in our 
memory. 

The Colonial Society is deeply appreciative of the sup- 
port given, and desires to express in this permanent form 
its thanks to the people of Southampton. 

L. E. Terry, President. 




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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



L. Emory Terry 
John A. Herrick 
Mrs. Edward P. White 
Edgar A. Hildreth - 
WilHam S. Pelletreau 
J. W. Fletcher Howell 
Mrs. Henry F. Herrick 
Mrs. William F. Halsey 
Mrs. Charles A. Jagger 



President 
Vice President 
Secretary 
Treasurer 
Historian 
Miss Abigail F. Halsey 
Samuel L. Parrish 
Ploward Townsend 
Frank H. Corwith 



HONORARY COMMITTEE 
Southampton 
Edward H. Foster Rev. Thomas J. Leonard 

Walter L. Jagger Rev. T. C. Ogburn 

C. Elmer Smith Prof. John G. Peck 

Rev. George J. Russell Mrs. Thomas H. Barber 

Rev. Henry Medd Col. Robert M. Thompson 

Rev. Samuel C. Fish Dr. Albert H. Ely 

Alfred E. Schermerhorn 



John H. Hunt 



Sag Harbor 

William Wallace Tooker 
Robert K. Atkinson 

Bridgehampton 

G. Clarence Topping Edward A. Hildreth 

Rev. Arthur Newman Mrs. T. Oscar Worth 

Water Mill 



Theodore A. Halsey 

Gilbert Penny 

Marcus E. Griffin 
Erastus F. Post 

Henry J. Howell 

Gilbert D. Rogers 



Good Ground 
Quogue 

W esthampton 
Speonk 



William H. Pierson 

Edwin C. Bellows 

Miss Sarah Foster 
Henry Gardiner 

Willard F. Jagger 

Rensselaer B. Dayton 



RECEPTION COMMITTEE 



Samuel L. Parrish 
Mrs. Henry F. Herrick 
Mrs. Edgar A. Hildreth 
Miss Sarah E. Cooper 
Mrs. Henry H. Hildreth 
Mrs. L. Emory Terry 
Mrs. Clara M. Lyons 
Mrs. James R. Herrick 



Mrs. James E. Foster 
Miss Evelina H. Smith 
Mrs. James M. Jagger 
Mrs. John Nugent 
Mrs. Eli H. Fordham 
Mrs. Willis G. Corwin 
Mrs. Gilbert H. White 
Mrs. Hugh Halsey 



DIRECTOR OF PAGEANT 
Mr. Robert K. Atkinson 

PAGEANT COMMITTEE 
Miss Abigail F, Halsey Mrs. John A. Herrick 

Mrs. James E. Foster C. Elmer Smith 

William K. Dunwell 

Associates 
Mrs. John G. Peck Miss Mary Flansburg 

Miss Mabel Campbell Miss Hazel Burling 

Mrs. J. Walter Kent Miss Ruth Enoch 

Miss Ruth Van Pelt Miss Edith Woodhull 

Mrs. Raymond Corwith Richard Twombly 

MARSHAL 
Edward P. White 

Assistants 

Augustus T. Halsey William Jessup 

William Gray Ralph Costello 

William Haywood Leland Burnett 

FINANCE COMMITTEE 
Frank H. Corwith James M. Jagger 

J. W. F. Howell David J. Gilmartin 

Edgar A. Hildreth Horace Foster 

ENTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE 
Howard Townsend John A. Herrick 

James E. Foster Dr. C. D. Foster 

Rev. G. J. Russell Charles R. Fitz 

Irving L. Terry 

DECORATION COMMITTEE 
Mrs. Hugh Halsey R. William Enoch 

Mrs. William E. Donnelly Eli H. Fordham 

John D. Corrigan 

MUSIC COMMITTEE 
L. E. Terry William J. Post 

Dr. Hugh Halsey Leland J. Hildreth 

Miss Julia W. Foster Miss Mary Flansburg 



CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE 
Willis D. Van Brunt William L. Donnelly 

Edward H. Howell Benjamin L. Baird 

John H. White Frank W. Burnett 

USHERS 
Alvah D. Ellsworth J. Foster Terry 

William F. Fordham Thomas C. Warren 

Henry P. Fordham C. Edwin Dimon 

Leon P. Hildreth William P. Nugent 

William W. Bishop G. Malcolm White 

Information Bureau 
Timothy A. Gilmartin 
Check Room 
John O. Elliston 

Grand Stand 
Ronald Cameron 
Sale of Souvenir Programs 
William K. Dunwell Charles E. Eve 

Press 
Frank A. Burling 

Posters 

John A. Herrick Mrs. John A. Herrirk 

Henry P. Fordham 

Sale of Medals 

William F. Fordham 

Ladies' Rest Room in Library 

The Reception Committee 

Police 

Benjamin H. Bishop 

Publications 

Mrs. Edward P. White 

Invitations 
Mrs. Henry F. Herrick 

Speakers 

Howard Townsend L. Emory Terry 

Official Luncheon 

The Entertainment Committee 




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John W. Fletcher Howell 

J W. Fletcher Howell, the seventh generation in line of 
descent from Edward Howell the Founder, was born in West 
Hampton, December 31, 1838 After attending the public schools 
of his native place, he was for a time a student in the academy of 
the village of Cambridge, Washington Co., N.Y. In 1859 he went 
to California and returned in the winter of 1864, and in the same 
year married Miss Maria J. Cooper of Southampton, whose father, 
Capt Mercator Cooper, is famous as having taken the first 
American ship into a harbor in Japan. The following year he 
made a second visit to California, reaching that country after a 
long and perilous voyage, and remained there until 1867, when 
he again returned to Southampton, and engaged in farming which 
he conducted with energy and success. When it was proposed 
to celebrate the 275th Anniversary of the Settlement of South- 
ampton, Mr. Howell entered into the spirit oi the occasion, and 
all the energy of his nature was exercised to render it a success. 
So much was owing to his ■well directed activity and persever- 
ance, that his colleagues, with one accord, unite in this testi- 
monial as a token of their respect for himself, and appreciation 
of his efforts. 



CELEBRATION ODE 

for the 

Anniversary of the Settlement of Southampton 

Rise up, ye people, with anthems of praise. 

And loud to Jehovah your thanksgiving raise, 

Praise ye the might which hath built here an altar, 

And gathered a people from over the sea. 

Sing to the mercy whose love cannot falter, 

And praise ye Jehovah the God of the free. 

Rise up, ye people, with anthems of praise. 

And loud to Jehovah your thanksgivings raise. 

Ages have rolled down the dark stream of time. 
Since leaving the shores of their own native clime. 
Seeking a home on this ocean girt Isle, 
Where free from the weight of oppression's hard rod. 
Untrammelled by rank and unfettered by guile, 
Our fathers might dwell and in peace worship God. 
Rise up, ye people, with anthems of praise. 
And loud to Jehovah your thanksgivings raise. 

Here in their Island homes they have been blest. 

An oasis fair upon ocean's broad breast, 

The loved forms that builded the first cottage fires 

Long since have slumbered beneath the green sod; 

But their children impressed with the same fond desires 

Still bring to this altar their tributes to God. 

Rise up, ye people, with anthems of praise. 

And loud to Jehovah your thanksgivings raise. 

Written for the 225th Anniversary of the Settlement of Southampton 
by Mrs. Maria Cooper Howell 



Declaration of the Company of Men 
who Founded Southampton 

Our true intereft and meaning if that when our 
Plantacon if laid out by thofe appointed that there 
fhall be a Church gathered and conftituted according 
to the mind of Chrift, that there we do freely lay 
downe our power of ordering and difpoiing of the 
Plantacon and of receiving inhabitantf or any other 
thinge that may tende to the good and wellare of y® 
inhabitantf at the feet of Chriit and Hif Church. 



11 



ANNIVERSARY SERVICE 

In the First Presbyterian Church 

Saturday morning, at half past ten o'clock 

Hymn— Tune : "Duke Street" 

O God, beneath Thy guiding hand, 

Our exiled fathers crossed the sea; 
And when they trod the wintry strand, 

With prayer and psalm they worshipped Thee. 

Thou heard'st, well pleased, the song, the prayer; 

Thy blessing came; and still its power 
Shall onward, through all ages, bear 

The memory of that holy hour. 

Laws, freedom, truth, and faith in God 
Came with those exiles o'er the waves ; 

And where their pilgrim feet have trod. 
The God they trusted guards their graves. 

And here Thy Name, O God of love, 
Their children's children shall adore. 

Till these eternal hills remove, 

And spring adorns the earth no more. 

Rev. Leonard Bacon 

Scripture Reading - - Rev. George J. Russell 

Pastor of First Presbyterian Church 

P^^yer - - - . Rev. Jesse Halsey 

Pastor Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio 

Solo William Wheeler 

Greeting - - - - L. Emory Terry 

President Southampton Colonial Society 

Chorus— "Pilgrim's Chorus" - - - Wagner 

Southampton Choral Society, led by William Wheeler 

Address— "Some Incidents in Southampton History" 

William S. Pelletreau, A. M. 
Chorus--"Thine Is the Kingdom," Holy City 



12 



Address— "The Old and New Education," 

John H. Finley, LL.D. 
President of the University of the State of New York 

Hymn— Tune: "St Catherine" 

Faith of our fathers! Hving still 

In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword: 

O how our hearts beat high with joy 
Whene'er we hear that glorious word! 

Faith of our fathers! holy faith! 

We will be true to thee till death! 

Faith of our fathers; we will love 
Both friend and foe in all our strife: 

And preach thee, too, as love knows how, 
By kindly words and virtuous life: 

Faith of our fathers! holy faith! 

We will be true to thee till death! 

Frederick W. Faber 

Benediction . - - - Rev. Henry Medd 



OFFICIAL LUNCHEON 

Saturday afternoon, at one o'clock 
in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church 

Toastmaster 
Rev. George J. Russell, Pastor of the Church 

BAND CONCERT 
At Library Corner, one to two o'clock 



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THE PAGEANT 

Saturday afternoon, at three o'clock 
in the Park at the head of Lake Agawam 

FOREWORD 

The pageant, as it has been developed of late years in 
America, is the attempt of a community to portray in dra- 
matic form the outstanding facts of its historical back- 
ground and also to at least suggest the ideals and aspira- 
tions which have had a place in its development. 

Dramatic art has apparent limitations which must be 
especially reckoned with in the production of a pageant. 
The attempt to render concrete such abstractions as the 
ideals and aspirations of a people must ever be difficult. 
Those who had the present undertaking in charge 
met the first difficulty by a process of elimination, 
choosing from the great wealth of historical lore which 
was available, such events as might lend themselves to ready 
dramatization. With regard to the second limitation they 
have dared to depend largely upon the power of suggestion 
and upon the imagination of the audience. 

The pageant was presented in hope that it might arouse a 
deeper appreciation of those who have gone before us; of 
those who undertook to establish a stable, democratic civ- 
ilization in a wilderness, as well as of those of a later age 
who. even under great difficulties, held true to the faith 
of their forefathers; and in the confidence that a deeper 
appreciation of our past might make us increasingly loyal to 
those ideals which are our heritage from the past and our 

hope for the future. 

Robert K. Atkinson 



14 



INTRODUCTION 

The Pageant, as it was worked out, surpassed even the 
fondest dreams of its originators. The beautiful day made 
the setting at the head of Lake Agawam perfect. Every 
seat on the grand stand was filled, the parking spaces were 
crowded, and the rest of the people filled Pond Lane and 
lined the shores of the lake for a long distance. 

If the Pageant Committee had needed inspiration, the 
enthusiastic audience would certainly have furnished it. As 
one scene succeeded another in perfect rhythm, we could 
not believe that these people were the men, women, and 
children who had given their time from their daily work 
or play to make this a success. 

The community spirit developed was wonderful! Each 
part was taken with conviction, one might almost say rev- 
erence, and joy. Nothing that the people of Southampton 
ever did yielded such large returns. 

From the beautiful Dance of the Woods and Waters 
in the Prologue to the inspiring vision of Southampton's 
future citizens — one hundred tiny children — marching to 
greet the Spirit of old Southampton and vowing allegiance 
to the tradition of her noble past, every part was performed 
with zeal and grace. One of the most striking features 
was the old-time Whale Rally— a thing that can never be 
duplicated because it was given by men, every one of whom 
had followed the sea in years gone by. The historical 
scenes were carefully reproduced, the Interludes were hap- 
pily planned to give a lightness and freedom to the pro- 
gram that left nothing to be desired. 

As all joined in singing "America" at the close, there 
was not one in all the six thousand witnesses but felt his 
spirit lifted and dedicated to a larger civic service and a 
deeper consciousness of our "goodly heritage." 

Abigail Fithian Halsey 




(RICHARD HEYDEN LUTZ) 



16 



PAGEANT PROGRAM 



THE HERALD SPEAKS 



Citizens of old Southampton Town, and all our bidden 

guests, 
We keep this holiday that we may 
Honor those noble men and women who first 
Brought the light of civilization to these shores, and also 
Those who, during well nigh three centuries, 
Have kept that light undimmed. 

But few of you are sons of those who first came here. 
Yet from whatsoever State or land ye come, 
I summon you this day to unite in 
Giving honor due to those who in the past have given 
Both their toil and love to this spot which we call home. 
And as the past lives again before us 
I ask that one and all heed well its lessons. 



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PROLOGUE 

DANCE OF THE SPIRITS OF THE WOODS AND THE WATERS 

"Here all is pleasant as a dream, 

The wind scarce shaketh down the dew; 
The green grass floweth like a stream 
Into the ocean's blue.*' 




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17 



EPISODE I 

THE FOUNDING OF SOUTHAMPTON 
(1640) 

PART I. PLACE: NORTH SEA 

An encampment of Shinnecock Indians. The squaws are 
cooing the work of the village — weaving, grinding corn, 
planting, etc. The children are engaged in play. A dance 
follows. The braves enter and join. The dance increases 
in intensity, but is interrupted by the appearance of a "white 
man's canoe" in the harbor. 

A band of Puritans may be seen disembarking. They 
land on Conscience Point. True to tradition, the first one 
to set foot on shore is a woman, who exclaims : 

"For Conscience' Sake, we're on dry land once more!" 

Under the leadership of Edward Howell, the "under- 
takers" of the colony make a treaty with the Indians. "For 
due consideration of sixteen coats and also three score 
bushels of corn to be paid upon lawful demand September, 
1 64 1, and further that the above-named English shall de- 
tend us from the unjust violence of whatever Indians shall 
illegally assail us, we do absolutely and forever grant to 
the parties above mentioned, to them, their heirs and suc- 
cessors forever, all the lands, woods and waters from the 
place where the Indians hayle their canoes out of the North 
Bay to the south side of the Island, from thence to possess 
all lands lying eastward, to have and to hold forever. 

Names of Indians who signed the deed : 

Manantacut (his X mark) 
Mandush (his X mark) 
Wybenet (his X mark) 
Howes (his X mark) 
Setommecoke (his X mark) 
MocoMANTo (his X mark) 
"These in the name of all the rest." 



18 



PART 2. PLACE: OLD TOWN 



The twenty men and their famihes, "led by their rev- 
erend, godly minister," Abraham Pierson, have at last com- 
pleted their march from North Sea and reached their new 
homes at Old Town. 

"It was a perilous undertaking to venture with wives 
and children into a wilderness hemmed in on two sides by 
water and the other two by savage tribes. Like their 
brethren of Plymouth, however, they were brave men and 
Christian, resolved on doing their part toward forming an 
empire for Freedom and Christianity." 



Note : The men who take the part of Six Chiefs are from 
the small remnant of the Shinnecock tribe. 

INTERLUDE 

"A DAME SCHOOL (1651) 

Puritan children on their way to school, each one bring- 
ing his stick of wood, stop by the way to play. Their 
teacher finds them and urges them along the path of knowl- 
edge by not sparing the rod. 



Note: There ivas a school before 1650. Richard Mills 
the first schoolmaster. 

"1694 — John Mobray engages to teach six months from 
the 1st of May to the 1st of November for twelve shillings 
per scholler, teaching from eight till eleven in the morning 
and from one till five in the afternoon." 




PURITAN MOTHER AND CHILDREN 







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19 



EPISODE II 
EARLY COLONIAL LIFE (1652) 

PART I. SCENE REPRESENTING HOME INDUSTRIES 

Mrs. Christopher Foster entertains her friends in the 
good old-fashioned way. They spend the afternoon in 
quilting, spinning, embroidering, working on samplers, knit- 
ting and sewing. Into this peaceful scene breaks an Indian 
intruder. All escape except Mrs. Thomas Halsey, who be- 
comes entangled in the flax on her wheel. She is dragged 
from the house and scalped. 

"The only occurrence of this kind was the murder of 
Mrs. Thomas Halsey. Wyandanch, the old chief of the 
Montauks, delivered to the magistrates the murderers, who, 
instead of being his own subjects, proved to be Pequot 
Indians from the Main land. These men were sent to 
Hartford, where they were tried, convicted and executed." 



Note : The Southampton Colony joined the Hartford 
Colony in 1644. 



20 



PART 2. THE GENERAL COURT 

Magistrate and citizens in the market place. Enter Wy- 
andanch, chief of the Montauks, with Indian prisoner. 

Wyandanch Speaks : "We bring this man to you. He 
killed one of your squaws. Deal with him according to the 
white man's law. He is not of our tribe, but a Pequot from 
across the water. Wyandanch keeps his word. He is the 
white man's friend." 

Magistrate orders constable to take charge of prisoner, 
put him in the pillory and later convey him to Hartford 
for trial. 

Josiah Stanborough is brought in with his son, Peregrine. 
At a session of the court the lad, having been adjudged 
guilty of the theft of fruit from Job Sayre's garden, has 
been ordered soundly whipped by his father in the presence 
of competent witnesses. The constable announces that the 
father has refused to comply with the order of the Court. 
He is adjudged as in contempt of the court and ordered 
placed in the stocks. The son is sent to the whipping post. 

Note: Peregrine Stanborough was the first child horn in 
the colony. The Parrish Art Museum stands on the site 
of Job Sayre's garden. 




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INTERLUDE 

A COLONIAL WEDDING PARTY 
(1775) 

A merry party of young men and women conduct a bridal 
pair to their new home and stop on the village green to 
dance. 



Note : The carriage used in the interlude is the one in 
which Mr. Benjamin Foster and his bride made their 
wedding journey to Montrose, Pa., in 1841. 



22 



EPISODE III 
THE REVOLUTION 

PART I. THE CALL Of THE MINUTE MEN (l/ZS) 

An American soldier rides from Sag Harbor bringing 
the news of Lexington and Concord. The Minute men 
respond from all the surrounding country. 

"April 5, 1776, the First Regiment of Suffolk County 
reported 13 companies, 1,030 men. February 19, 1776, 
reported nine companies, 760 men." 

PART 2. THE OCCUPATION OE THE TOWN BY THE BRITISH 

(1778) 

Old men, women and children in the market place. Lord 
Erskine and the two aides appear. Recognizing the hos- 
tility of the people, he addresses them : 

"People op Southampton : It is not by our own 
choice that we are here as representatives of the power 
whom your citizens are fighting. We do not aim to 
oppress women and children. We realize how difficult 
it would be for many of you to become reconciled to 
our presence, but if you will be peaceable and avoid 
stirring up any unnecessary trouble, we will make 
every effort to render our stay here as free from un- 
pleasantness as circumstances will permit." 

Tradition tells us that one of the British officers attempted 
a flirtation with Martha Halsey. She turned quickly, 
snatched off his cap and stamped upon it. He exclaimed 
in anger, "You damn little rebel" and rode away. 

"The winter of 1778-9 was memorable by the occupation 
of Southampton by the British. A squadron of cavalry 
was quartered there, who by their disregard of property 
and the usages of war contrived to gain the ill-will of the 
inhabitants. However, the rigors of military occupation 
were softened in Southampton by the presence of the com- 
mander, General Erskine. He had his headquarters in Mr. 
William S. Pelletreau's house and took his meals across 
the street in the northeast room of the house, now the home 
of Mrs. Henry F. Herrick. Later he resigned his commis- 




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sion and returned to England because of his sympathy with 
the American cause." 

Old Pompey, who appears in this episode, was a slave 
in the Mackie family. The horses of the British were quar- 
tered on his master, and Pomp ably defended his country 
by mixing ground glass in the feed he gave to the horses. 
"Ground glass mighty good fo' horses, Massa," said Pomp, 
when questioned about the incident. 



INTERLUDE 

YE JOLLY SAILOR BOYS— DRILL 

"The world of waters is our home 
Our heritage the sea." 



EPISODE IV 

A WHALE RALLY (1855) 

Two fishermen are on the shore mending their nets. A 
carpenter, a merchant and a farmer come along and stop 
to talk about the weather and the crops. Suddenly a man 
appears on the beach banks wefting a coat. This is a signal 
that a whale has been sighted. The fishermen blow a horn. 
The news is spread all around, and soon all the men and 
boys in the town are on the shore. The boats are launched 
and race to see which one can first put the harpoon into 
the whale. 



Note: ''In 1687 there were fourteen whaling companies 
of twelve men each in the town of Southampton, zvho 
reported 2,148 bbls. of oil." 



24 



INTERLUDE 

A DISTRICT SCHOOL (i860) 

Boys and girls on their way home from school stop long 
enough to sing songs of the period. 

"The day is like an old-time face 
That gleams across some grassy place, 
An old-time face, an old-time chum, 
That rises from the past to come 
And lure me back along the ways 
Of Time's all-golden yesterdays." 



1 





VETERAN OF CI\ IL WAR 

(Philip Brady) 



25 



EPISODE V 
THE CIVIL WAR (1861) 

THE OLD man's dream 

An old man falls asleep in his chair. In memory he goes 
back to the days of '61. First he sees his old companions 
in a Virginia Reel. Following them come the boys of '61, 
who have volunteered. He rises and tries to join them, but 
sinks back in his chair exhausted. 

After a short interval he sees returning from the war, 
not the boys who marched away, but a few Veterans, old 
men like himself. He rises and follows them. 



26 



INTERLUDE 

A REUNITED LAND— DANCE (1865) 

A Federal officer leads the Northern States. A Confed- 
erate officer leads the Southern States. 



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EPISODE VI 
THE SPIRIT OF HOSPITALITY (1880) 

Enter two natives in conversation. 

First Native : Do you think that we people here reahze 
how tine a place this is in which we hve? 

Second Native: I have sometimes thought that we 
become so used to the beauty and comfort of our home here 
that we do not fully appreciate it. 

First Native: I spent a few days in New York City 
last month, and it was hot and dirty, and before my visit 
was done I sighed for some of the ocean breezes and the 
real comfort of the Southampton summer. 

Enter touring car occupied by family of New Yorkers. 

First Native: Been touring? 

New Yorker: Well, sort of touring, and at the same 
time we are out looking for a home. 

First Native : I should not take you for a family of 
vagabonds. 

New Yorker : I suppose that you people who live out 
here can hardly appreciate how the changes that are taking 
place in the city are affecting our homes. 

Second Native: Some of your homes have been show 
places for years. 

New Yorker : Rather more of show places than homes, 
I fear. Of late years the city home is fast becoming a 
memory. Business blocks and apartment houses are taking 
up all of the space now, and with the development of rapid 
transit facilities we are more and more going to the country 
for our homes. We still make our money in the city, but 
one cannot have the real home feeling for it any more. 

First Native: I should think, however, that your 
search would be easy. You should have but little trouble 
in finding what you seek. 

New Yorker: You are evidently of those who think 
that money will buy anything. We know better by experi- 
ence. We can always find a place where we can spend 
money, but we want a place where we can have a real home, 
a place that will be home to the whole family. 



28 



Second Native: Well, I guess our people came here 
for about that purpose some few years ago. 

New Yorker: I believe that I can speak for a good 
many city dwellers when I say that we wish to make our 
homes in a community where we can share its repsonsibili- 
ties, make our due contribution to its progress and have our 
full share in the community life. 

First Native: I believe, then, that we have the ideal 
place here for you. We have not been around a great deal, 
but we do think we have a fine democratic lot of folks here, 
and while we would not welcome any one who would intro- 
duce a discordant element, and would regret any com- 
mercializing of our natural advantages, we surely would 
welcome those who seek a home, even though they could 
be here with us only for a part of the year. 

Immigrant and his family have entered and heard part 
of the conversation. 

Immigrant: I wonder if your town has a place, too, 
for me and my family ? 

First Native: Well, what can you bring to our town? 

Immigrant : I can bring you my labor, if you need it. 
There are many places where I can sell my strength, but 
there are few places that will take my work and in return 
give me a real home. 

Second Native: Where do you come from? 

Immigrant: In Poland, I was born, but ten years I 
have been in America. My wife has been here fifteen years. 
We were married and lived for years in the city, but it is a 
hard place for the children. There I earn good money, 
but spend it all and have nothing at the end of the year. 
My wife and I talked it over and decided there must be a 
better place for a home in America than the big city. A 
friend told me about Southampton, so we came. 

First Native: Well, I guess a lot of your people are 
coming our way. 

Immigrant: Yes, and I think some of your people do 
not like us to come, but we want only what you and your 
fathers wanted, a place where we can have a home and 
a good place to raise our children. We will be good citizens 



29 



when we learn. These children were all born in America. 
They love your flag as I do. They all go to your school. 
My people have always loved America. When your fathers 
went to war to fight for liberty, our fathers over in Poland 
sent their Kosciusko to help them win their fight. Your 
flag we have always loved, and when Germany and Russia 
took away our land from us, the hearts of Polish people 
turned more and more to America. Will you give us a 
home ? 

New Yorker : Do you know, I never thought of these 
fellows in that way before. I believe that if they are treated 
right they will make good Americans. 

Second Native : Let's shake hands all 'round on this. 
Southampton extends her hospitality to all who want a 
home here and will do their share toward the common 
welfare. 

INTERLUDE 

FOLK DANCES (1915) 

Swedish Dances : Klappdans, Bleking. Kinderpolska. 
Hungarian : Czardas. 

EPISODE VII 
FINALE 

Herald : Who comes here ? 

Spirit of Southampton: I am the Spirit of South- 
ampton, the incarnation of the hope and the vision of a 
people. 

Herald: Have you been here during all the years of 
the past? 

S. OF S. : For 275 years I have been here beside the 
restless ocean. 

Herald : Yet you seem not old. 

S. OF S. : Hope and vision are ever young. 

Herald: Have you been seen before to-day? 

S. OF S. : Seldom have I been seen of men, and then 
but by those noble souls possessed of a vision beyond mere 
material objects, whose eyes saw the glory of the ideal. 

Herald : And yet you come to grace our holiday. 

S. OF S. : Indeed I do ; and yet I have been ever present. 



30 



In your failures as well as in your successes; in times of 
despondency as well as in times of exaltation I have lived 
en, an unseen and oft unrecognized presence. 

Herald: And have you looked with us to-day upon 
our past? 

S. OF S. : I look not backward. I live ever in the pres- 
ent and look toward the future, toward the coming day. 
My vision is of the Southampton that is to be. 

Herald: See, they are coming now, another genera- 
tion. Little children they are to-day, but to-morrow men 
and women — the citizens of the future. 
(Children come on stage.) 
S. OF S. : To these commit the heritage of the past. Tell 
them the stories of the forefathers and explain the meaning 
of all you tell. 

Herald: It shall be done. One by one I'll call them 
forth. 

(Review of Pageant.) 
Herald : 

Here in the primal wilderness, e'er the foot of man had 
trodden this land, dwelt the Spirits of the Woods and the 
Waters. 

(Prologue passes in review.) 
Earliest inhabitant of this land, the Indian, a simple prim- 
itive soul, he lived a happy, aimless life. 
(Indians pass.) 
Inevitable it was that he should give way before that band 
of dauntless souls, filled with the spirit of progress and ad- 
venture, and fired with the ideal of a democratic, Christian 
civilization. 

(Puritans pass.) 
Co-extensive with the State and church was the school. 

(Dame School passes.) 
Fundamental to our fathers' concept of civilization was 
their ideal of the home, based upon industry and protected 
by civil government and law. 
(Episode II passes.) 
Not neglected was the lighter social side of life. 



81 



(Interlude passes.) 
Breathing the Spirit of Liberty with the very air, it was 
inevitable that conflict should follow a violation of their 
rights, and very difficult it was for them to live peaceably 
even for a time with those who represented the power that 
oppressed them. 

(Episode III passes.) 
With the bay on one side of their home and the ocean 
on the other, the call of the waters was ever in their ears. 
(Interlude passes.) 
From the sea their stalwart sons brought many a worth v 
prize, and industry was the support and the glory of all. . 
(Episode IV passes.) 
In each period of their history they found the time and 
provided the place for the instruction of the young. 
(Interlude passes.) 
When disunion threatened the life of the larger civil unit, 
the Nation, of which they owned themselves a part, their 
loyalty was measured only by their ability. 
(Episode V passes.) 
Welcome indeed was that happy day that saw a reunited 
land. 

(Interlude passes.) 
The virtue of hospitality was ever known here. Hearts 
and homes were open to the stranger, and each new-comer 
was welcomed and expected to make his contribution to the 
common welfare. 

(Episode VI passes.) 
Gladness and joy have been the portion of this fortunate 
people to whom the citizen of no land is an alien or a 
stranger. 

(Interlude passes.) 
And so, upon this holiday. Southampton, to you and to 
the future I commit this charge. Be loyal to the ideals of 
your past as you go forward toward that larger, freer, 
nobler, happier Southampton that is to be. 

SINGING OF "AMERICA" 

PARADE OF PAGEANT CHARACTERS THROUGH 

VILLAGE 



32 



THE PARADE 

The parade which succeeded the pageant was, without 
exception, the most brilliant spectacle Southampton has ever 
v/itnessed. 

Immediately after the singing of "America," in which 
the several thousand present had so heartily joined, the 
marshal and his aides on horseback led the way from the 
park to Monument Square, where the parade was formed. 
These, closely followed by the band, led the line of march, 
with the veterans and the boys in blue of the Civil War 
episode coming after. Then came the pageant characters, 
each in their respective groups, marching two and two, led 
by the Herald and the Spirit of Southampton, two most 
impressive figures, each representing so perfectly the parts 
represented. Following the pageant characters camiC the 
fire department, with decorated automobiles bringing up 
the rear. 

It was estimated that at least 10,000 people visited South- 
ampton that day. Almost as many were turned away from 
the grounds as could be admitted, and these were lined up 
along the street to view the parade. The line of march 
continued from Monument Square through Job's lane and 
Main street, down Bridgehampton road and Elm street to 
the railroad station, from thence back by Main street to 
disband at Monument Square. Crowds were assembled all 
filong the line, especially on Job's lane and Main street, and 
cheered most enthusiastically as each group appeared. From 
the wood nymphs in the lead to the hundred children repre- 
senting the future of America in the final episode, it was 
difficult to decide which group received most attention. The 
Puritans and Indians were ever popular figures, while the 
sailor boys and the wedding party seemed to be especial 
favorites. The veterans and the boys in blue won loud ap- 
plause, while the boys of Southampton's efficient fire de- 
partment, never in better form than on this occasion, re- 
ceived their full share of approval. 

It was, indeed, a beautiful spectacle. The rich colors 
of the pageant costumes in the fading light of a perfect June 
day, made an impression which can never be forgotten by 
the many who witnessed it — a day in which a splendid com- 




MARSHALL AND AIDS 

(Kdward P. White) 



33 



munity spirit, assisted by all which nature can offer at this 
season of the year, had combined to make a complete suc- 
cess far beyond the hopes of its promoters. Just a word 
a? to the author of the pageant, Miss Abigail Fithian 
Halsey. 

A student of history and a native of old Southampton, 
for her its local history had always peculiar charm. The 
idea of the pageant as the most appropriate way of cele- 
brating the 275th anniversary had been in her mind for a 
long time. When her plan was proposed to the committee 
m charge of the event, it seemed so much more of an under- 
taking than could be carried to ultimate success, that it was 
thought quite impracticable ; but Miss Halsey's conviction 
and enthusiasm won such confidence that exactly one month 
before the time for the celebration it was decided to follow 
the plan proposed, which was done almost to the letter. 
The committee was most fortunate in securing the co- 
operation of Mr. Robert K. Atkinson, of the Sage Foun- 
dation in Sag Harbor, who, as pageant master, carried out 
so sympathetically and to such successful conclusion the 
event which gave color to a day of celebration which will 
be long remembered by all who had participated in it. 

L. H. W. 



34 

RECEPTION AT THE PARRISH ART MUSEU^I 
Saturday Evening 8:15 O'clock 

AN EVENING OF REMINISCENCE AND SONG 

Instrumental Trio : 
R. Hayden Lutz, Leland J. Hildreth, Airs. J. Walter Kent 

Chorus, "O, Let the Nation Be Glad" Brewer 

Southampton Choral Society 

Address 

By the President, L. Emory Terry 

Duett, "Una Notte a Venezia" Lucantoni 

Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler 
Address 

Mr. Samuel L. Parrish 

Solo, "The Cross" Ware 

Mrs. Wheeler 
Address 

Hon. Erastus F. Post 

Chorus, "Sea, Mountain and Prairie" Mosenthal 

Southampton Choral Society 

Solo, "Gloria" Bruzzi-Peccia 

Mrs. Joseph T. Losee 
Address 

Mr. Edward H. Foster 

Solo, "Homeland" Kaiser 

Mr. William Wheeler 
Address 

Mr. Robert S. Pelletreau 

Duett, "Night Hymn at Sea" Garing Thomas 

Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler 

Instrumental Trio: 
R. Hayden Lutz, Leland J. Hildreth, Mrs. J. Walter Kent 

Chorus, "To Thee, O Country" Bichberg 

Southampton Choral Society 



RECEPTION AT THE PARRISH ART MUSEUM 
Saturday Evening, June 12, 19 15 

This was a most enjoyable continuation of the celebra- 
tion of the day, the public being invited to a meeting in the 
Art Museum by its liberal founder, Mr. Samuel L. Parrish, 
whose benefactions to the village are too well known to 
require formal mention. A conspicuous feature was the 
musical entertainment furnished by Mr. R. Hayden Lutz, 
Mr. Leland J. Hildreth. Mrs. J. Walter Kent, Mrs. Joseph 
T. Losee and Mr. and Mrs. William Wheeler and the South- 
ampton Choral Society. The opening address was made 
by Mr. L. Emory Terry, the president of the Southampton 
Colonial Society. 

This was followed by an address of welcome by Mr. 
Samuel L. Parrish, which met with a hearty response from 
an appreciative audience. 

Hon. Erastus F. Post, of Quogue, next spoke in a very 
effective manner, humorously recalling that he had received 
j-n invitation from Southold to attend the celebration of the 
founding of Southampton's "older sister," an idea which 
he promptly repudiated, asserting that Southold's "older 
sister" was on this side of Peconic Bay. and while the birth- 
day of the "older sister" is known beyond dispute, the birth- 
day of the younger sister, Southold, is not on record, and 
her history for the first ten years of her life is utterly un- 
known. 

He was followed by Edward H. Foster, Esq., whose ad- 
dress was full of facts relating to the past of "Old South- 
ampton," which, if not recorded now, will soon pass into 
oblivion. Among other things was a very interesting ac- 
count of the old "try works" on the west side of the Town 
Pond, where for long years the blubber of whales was 
changed into whale oil, with all the accessories of the whale 
ship except the waves around and the uncertain footing of 
the sailor. 

The closing address was made by Robert S. Pelletreau, 
Esq., of Patchogue. who might be termed a grandson of 
Southampton, his ancestors having a part in its history for 
many years. It gave in few words an eloquent eulogy of 



36 



Southampton in the past, showing a deep veneration for 
the people and the days that are gone, while appreciating in 
the fullest degree the blessings and conveniences of the pres- 
ent. 

Everything connected with the evening was fully 
appreciated and enjoyed by a large audience, and with deep 
respect and gratitude to Mr. Parrish, to whom all are so 

deeply indebted. 

W. S. P. 




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37 



PROGRAM OF THE TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY- 
FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING 
OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
SOUTHAMPTON, N. Y., SUNDAY, 
JUNE 13. 1915 

1640 — 1915 

Morning Service 10:30 

Organ Prelude, "Legend" Cadman 

Doxology and Invocation 

Anthem, "Praise Ye the Father" Randegger 

Psalter and Gloria 

Hymn 667, "God of Our Fathers" 

Scripture Lesson 

Rev. Jesse Halsey 

Pastor Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, O. 

Tenor Solo, "Great Is Jehovah, the Lord" Schubert 

Mr. William Wheeler 
Prayer 

Rev. C. E. Craven, D. D. 
Stated Clerk of Long Island Presbytery 
Response, "The Lord's Prayer" Dow 

Announcements 
Greetings from the Presbytery 

Rev. C. E. Craven, D. D. 
Stated Clerk of Long Island Presbytery 
Offering 
Prayer 
Offertory Anthem, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" 

Shelley 
Hymn 521, "O God of Bethel by Whose Hand" 
Sermon, "Our Heritage" 

By the Pastor, Rev. George J. Russell 
Hymn 496, "Awake My Soul, Stretch Every Nerve" 
Benediction 
Organ Postlude, "Cortege" MUler 



88 



Evening Service; 7:45 

Organ Prelude, "Third Sonata" Guilm 

Anthem, "The Heavens Are Telling" Hadyn 

Southampton Choral Society 

Invocation 

Rev. Henry Medd 
Pastor First M. E. Church, Southampton, N. Y. 

Hymn 121, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" 

Scripture Lesson 

Rev. Samuel C. Fish 

Pastor St. John's Episcopal Church, Southampton, N. Y. 

Duett, "The Lord Is My Light" Buck 

Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler 

Prayer 

By the Pastor 

Offering 

Offertory Anthem, "They That Sow in Tears" Gaul 

Southampton Choral Society 

Address, "The Early Days of Presbyterianism on Long- 
Island" 

Rev. Arthur Newman 
Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Bridgehampton 

Hymn 298, "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" 

Address, "The Early Days of the Southampton Church" 
Rev. Jesse Halsey 
Pastor Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, O. 

Anthem, "A Hymn of Praise" Rutenber 

Prayer 

Hymn 533, "How Firm a Foundation" 

Benediction 

Organ Postlude, "March Nuptiale" Shelley 



89 



CELEBRATION IN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

The church ediiice, built in 1707 and still standing, is the 
oldest house for religious worship in the State ol New 
York; an Episcopal church on Staten Island being the next 
oldest, was built in 1708. 

This church stood on the north side of Meeting House 
lane and directly opposite the present edihce. In the deed 
for the church lot, dated August 27, 1707, it is expressly 
stated that the building had been "already founded, begun 
and built upon," and that the purchasers (which included all 
the taxable inhabitants of the parish) "have pious intentions 
ior the founding, raising and building a convenient house 
for the worship of Almighty God, according to the usage, 
practice, rites and discipline used and approved by those 
churches or congregations of Christians usually known and 
aistinguished by the name and style of Presbyterian." 

This is the lirst mention of Presbyterianism used in con- 
nection with any church on Long Island, and, so far as we 
tan learn, with any church in the State. 

The celebration of June 12 was continued on the follow- 
ing day, being the Sabbath, by a union service connected 
with the history of the church. After the usual introduc- 
tion, the Scriptural lesson was read by Rev. Jesse Halsey, 1 
native of Southampton and pastor of the Seventh Presby- 
terian church in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Greetings from the Presbytery of Long Island were pre- 
sented by Rev. C. E. Craven, D. D., the stated clerk. The 
sermon, "Our Heritage," was delivered by Rev. George j. 
Russell, the pastor, presenting in the clearest manner the 
benefits derived from the past and our duties to the present 
and the future. 

At the evening services the invocation was by Rev. Henry 
Medd, the pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church. The 
Scripture lesson was read by Rev. Samuel C. Fish, pastor 
of St. John's Episcopal church. An address was delivered 
ty Rev. Arthur Newman, pastor of the Presbyterian church 
?t Bridgehampton, on "The Early Days of Presbyterian- 
ism on Long Island." This was followed by an address 
by Rev. Jesse Halsey on "The Early Days of the South- 
ampton Church." Both of these a Mresses were valuable 
collections of historical facts worthy of preservation. 



40 



As we have seen before, the church became practically 
Presbyterian in 1707. In September, 17 16, a call was ad- 
dressed to Mr. Samuel Gelston. This was laid before the 
Presbytery at Philadelphia, then the only one in the country. 
In this the congregation of Southampton promised "to sub- 
ject themselves to the Presbytery in the Lord." The Pres- 
bytery of Philadelphia agreed to divide into four distinct 
Presbyteries, "united in one Synod," and the Presbytery of 
Long Island was one of them. This was the first Presbytery 
n: the Province of New York, and for twenty years or more 
had jurisdiction over the churches formed in New York 
and West Chester. 

The Presbytery of Long Island met and was constituted 
in the old church in Southampton April 17, 171 7, and is 
now in the 200th year of ecclesiastical prosperity. 

William S. Pelletreau. 



41 



Historical 

In the year 1640 a colony of settlers from Lynn, Mass., 
landed at iXorth Sea, and about June 12 of the same year 
made the tirst permanent settlement on the eastern end of 
Long Island at Southampton. They sent for the Rev. Abra- 
ham Pierson to become their minister. He graduated from 
Cambridge in 1632 and had settled in Boston in 1640. 

The church was first "Independent" in form and strictly 
Calvanistic in belief and doctrines. It is not known when 
the church became definitely Presbyterian, but when the 
change occurred it was not a sudden or radical one, but 
merely a change in church government. 

The name Presbyterian was used in connection with the 
(hurch in March, 1712. On September, 1716, the church 
presented to the Presbytery of Philadelphia a call for the 
ministerial services of Samuel Gelston and promised to sub- 
mit themselves to the Presbytery in the Lord. The first 
Hieeting of the Presbytery of Long Island, the first in the 
Province of New York, was held in the church in April, 
1717. 

BuiIvDINGS 

The first house of worship 1640-1653. In Old Town. 

The second house of worship 1653-1707. On South 
Main street, opposite present parsonage. 

The third house of worship 1 707-1843. Northeast cor- 
ner Meeting House lane and Main street. 

The fourth house of worship 1843-1910. 

The first parsonage 1675-1736. 

The second parsonage 1736- 1836. 

The third parsonage 1836-present. 

Ministi;rs of the Church 

Abraham Pierson 1640- 1647 

Robert Fordham 1648- 1674 

John Harriman 1674- 1676 

Seth Fletcher 1676-1679 

Joseph Taylor 1679-1682 
Samuel Gelston (Co-Pastor 1717-1723) 1717-1728 

Silvanus White 1727-1782 



42 



Osias Eels 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


James Eels 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


Joshua Williams 










1 785-1 789 


Mr. Strong 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


Mr. Mills 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


Herman Daggett 










1791-1795 


David S. Bogart 










1795-1813 


Mr. Andrews 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


Joshua Hart 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


Amos Bingham 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


Henry Fuller 


1 


Stated < 


supply i 


tor three months 


Herman Halsey 


Stated 


supply 


for 


an 


unknown period 


John M. Babbitt 










1817-1821 


Peter H. Shaw 










1821-1829 


Daniel Beers 










1829-1835 


Hugh N. Wilson 










1835-1852 


John A. Morgan 










1852-1855 


Elias N. Crane 










1855-1856 


David Kennedy 










1856-1858 


William Neal Cleveland 








1859-1863 


Hugh N. Wilson 










1863-1867 


Frederick E. Shearer 








1 866- 1 8 70 


Andrew Shiland 










1871-1883 


Walter Condict 










1887-1888 


Robert C. Hallock 










1 889- 1 89 2 


Richard S. Campbell 








1 89 4- 1 908 


George Jeffrey Russell 








1909- 




< 
o 

c/: 

« 

Ed 

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48 



THE FOUNDERS' MEMORIAL 

In this two hundred and seventy-fifth year of the set- 
tlement of our historic town the question of a permanent 
memorial to those early colonists became paramount. Just 
what form this memorial should assume was a subject for 
much discussion on the part of the committee which had 
ill charge the anniversary celebration. While several plans 
were in high favor, the committee were unanimous in feel- 
mg that such a memorial should find its expression in some 
project of educational value rather than in a monument 
of granite or bronze. 

The Colonial Society had upon two occasions — in 
1900 and again in 19 10 — held a Loan Exhibition, when a 
rare and beautiful collection of articles representing the 
earlier life of the village were placed upon exhibition in 
(he Memorial Hall of the library. These exhibitions were 
enthusiastically patronized and proved our locality rich in 
treasures of the past. The society has for long looked 
forward to making permanent an exhibit of this kind — 
something which historical societies everywhere are doing, 
and often with a background of incident far less picturesque 
than that which Southampton possesses. 

In the light of a permanent memorial to the memory of 
those early heroes, it was felt that no monument more lit- 
tmg could be established than to provide a place where the 
long cherished plan of the society could be realized. 

Mr. L. Emory Terry and Mr. Samuel L. Parrish, both 
members of the Colonial Committee as well as trustees of 
the library, were instrumental in devising a plan which has 
met with enthusiastic approval and support. Since the 
building of the beautiful auditorium in connection with 
the High school the Memorial Hall of the library had 
fallen into disuse. Those associated in the work of the 
library had long felt the need of added reading and stack- 
room facilities. It was proposed to place in Memorial Hall 
a ten-foot ceiling, giving ample space below for a much 
needed children's reading room, and abundant height above 
for a hall well suited to the needs of the Colonial Society. 

Plans for these were drawn by Mr. Grosvenor D. 
Atterbury of New York, the approach to the Memorial 



44 



Room to be made by a Colonial staircase with an 
entrance to the west opening out upon the beautiful 
gardens of the Parrish Art Museum. So enthusiastically 
indeed has the plan been received that the $8,000 needed 
has been readily forthcoming. The village appropriated 
$500 a year for five years. Friends who so generously 
subscribed to the expenses of the celebration fund, raised 
through the kind offices of Mr. J. W. Fletcher Howell, 
subscribed at that time also to the memorial. Too much 
cannot be said in appreciation of the efforts of Mr. Samuel 
L. Parrish, interested always in all that makes for the 
uplift and advancement of Southampton. Mr. Parrish not 
only subscribed most generously himself, but has been in- 
strumental in promoting an interest in the generous gifts 
which has made possible this twin memorial — the children's 
room, spacious and cozy, and the beautiful Colonial room. 
Here youth and age have clasped hands in a memorial 
most fitting to the memory of those early heroes, 
2 memorial indeed which shall pass on to the future the 
story of the past in no uncertain way — a past of which 
we are all justly proud and which otherwise would be lost 
in oblivion. 

Lizbeth Halsey White, 




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45 



ADDRESSES 

dEUVErEd at the 

ANNIVERSARY SERVICE 

HEED IN THE 

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
Saturday Morning, June 12, 191 5 



46 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME 

It now devolves upon me to extend the greeting of South- 
ampton to our friends who unite with us at this time in 
the celebration of our two hundred and seventy-fifth birth- 
day. 

As we look back over the long years of the past and 
realize how much we owe to our forefathers who so firmly 
implanted in our hearts those principles of truth and jus- 
tice which we as a people so greatly prize to-day, we realize 
that it is most fitting that we of Southampton and the 
friends whom we are so glad to have with us, unite in the 
spirit of this occasion with sincere and heartfelt devotion. 

Two hundred and seventy-five years ago and twenty 
years after the landing of the "Mayflower," our forefathers 
landed on that barren point of land extending out into 
North Sea Harbor known as Conscience Point. 

They came with a noble purpose. There burned in their 
hearts as an unquenchable fire the ideal of true liberty and 
justice. In all the struggles, the discouragements and 
differences incident to such an undertaking they firmly held 
to that ideal, and in their social organization they laid 
those three foundation stones which are at the foundation 
of every true civilization — the Christian home, the Chris- 
tian church and the Christian school. 

We who believe in the great doctrine that there can be 
no effect without an adequate cause, realize that the moral 
standards which we as a nation have to-day, have a foun- 
dation in the past. For all that is strong and true and 
enduring in our national life we are indebted to our fore- 
fathers for the foundation principles. It can be truly said 
that the man who has had no past has no future, and every 
achievement, every attainment worth while, has had as its 
foundation an ideal in the past. 

It is, therefore, most fitting that we set apart this day 
to do honor to those things which were true and noble in 
the days gone by. 

Again I extend you Southampton's greeting and most 
cordial welcome, and I trust that when you return to your 
homes you will carry with you pleasant memories of this 
occasion. 

L. E. Terry, President. 



47 



ADDRESS 

OF 

John H. Finley, L. L. D. 

President of the University of the State of New York 
THE OLD AND THE NEW EDUCATION 



48 



The pleasant remarks of my predecessor, Mr. Pelletreau, 
have made me feel as if I were not a stranger, but a long- 
time resident in your ancient town, and a brief examination 
of your oldest records has given me a knowledge of the 
past which is not possessed by a transient visitor. In read • 
ing and hearing of your beautiful town of Southampton, 
on this island severed from what was quaintly called "The 
Continent of New Haven," and settled by "divers godly and 
sincere servants of Christ," I have been wishing that I 
might be found guilty of some morally negligible, yet locally 
serious ofYense and sentenced to spend a week at least in 
the stocks. A seat in the stocks was not considered an hon- 
orable position, and I can readily believe that it might be 
far from comfortable, but it would be a great relief to be 
detained here against the imagined compulsions of State, 
and it would be a great pleasure especially, if the stocks 
were placed in the Garden near the Museum. I can think 
of no revival that would be more wholesome than the set- 
ting up again of the stocks in this time of restless civiliza- 
tion and giving to men a chance to rest in spite of them- 
selves. Let us suppose that such ordinances as these could 
be adopted by our present town rulers: 

For excessive auto-mobilizing — One day in the stocks. 
For rapid auto-mobility — One week. 
For prodigality — A fortnight. 
For prolonged vagrancy — One month. 
One thought occurs to us that if we were seated in the 
stocks for such offenses, it is not impossible but that we 
should have some of the town officers themselves seated by 
our side. And for frequent vagrancy we might be con- 
demned to a much more unpleasant interview with the whip- 
ping post. 

In 1648, "it was ordered at a Towne meeting that there 
should be provided a sufficient payre of stocks," John 
White having undertaken to prepare them. Such static 
outdoor compulsions might be a good provision for those 
who, like myself, have within the last sixty hours traversed 
twice the length of this State. 



49 



We are told that in 1792 a colony of persons went from 
this place and founded the town of Palmyra in Wayne 
County. One man became tired of the new place, and, 
being very homesick for old Long Island, started on foot. 
It took him three weeks to make the journey, which can 
now be made in twelve hours. It is the education of the 
present which has wrought the wondrous change. 

And this leads me to say that the two things in which 
the world has made most marked change or progress since 
the Colonists settled Southampton in 1640 are in 

First. The Mobility of Man, and 

Second. The Transmissibility of Ideas. 

These have influenced his life and education as well, for 
if education be, as a highest authority has defined it to be, 
an adaption of man to his environment — the feverish strug- 
gle to widen it has made his education a far more serious 
concern than when it could be reached by the unlearned age, 
the untelephoned ear, the oared hand or the sail-spread 
ship. Time itself has not been lengthened, but we make a 
great deal more of the same length of time. At the begin- 
ning of the last century to make a trip from Southampton 
to New York required a week. The same thing is now 
easily done in a part of a day. Are we not, then, living a 
whole week in twenty-four hours? No miracles of the 
recorded past can equal the wonders of the telegraph and 
the telephone. The miracles of the long-gone age are 
equalled or exceeded by the realities of the present. To-day 
we hear a man's voice at a distance of hundreds of miles, 
to-morrow we may be able to see his face. The powers of 
nature are not exhausted, we are only beginning to learn 
them. 

Who can tell but that the wonders of science may yet 
bring back a long-buried past, and with the help of instru- 
ments sufficiently delicate we may hear Cicero speaking his 
immortal orations and Homer repeating his deathless song. 
You have in your museum that cherished record from the 
larger past, that wonderfully beautiful statue of the Nike, 
the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which Mr. Wells, after 
his visit to Boston, referred to as the symbol of the "terrify- 
ing unanimity of aesthetic discriminations." But it was after 
all only the figure-head at the prow of a boat. Its feet 



50 



were fastened to a keel. The higher freedom, the mobihty 
of wings, was but the possession of the gods alone, an 
aspiration of rash men, who fell into the sea for their ven- 
turing. 

On the subject of Human Evolution, we can only briefly 
speak. It would be in vain to endeavor to condense into 
a short address a subject which would require volumes to 
render adequate justice. The education of the present has 
enabled us to trace the history of our race by means of scat- 
.tered fragments that have escaped the destroying hand of 
time. It is the education of the present which has produced 
men whose lifelong labor has been to collect and compare 
the relics of a long-vanished past. The relics of ancient 
Greece, its monuments and its manuscripts were to the half- 
civilized Turk only objects to be neglected and destroyed. 
To the enlightened German and Englishman, they were 
objects to be sought for with anxious care and treasured 
with zealous pride, and from them the history of the race 
has been written and preserved. Far back of them are the 
remains of animal and vegetable life that flourished and had 
their dwelling place upon this earth millions of years ago. 
The rocks give up their long-buried treasures, and in our 
museums are the forms of living beings of an almost bound- 
less antiquity. 

At what time man made his appearance upon earth, or 
in what particular form, is to us utterly unknown. The 
earliest relics of the human race show an order of beino-s 

o 

far beyond the animals in intelligence, and possessing the 
undeveloped rudiments of our present civilization. But the 
uphill road from the beginning to the present has been one 
of difficulties and danger. Slow has been the march to 
reach the far-distant goal. The education of the past has 
been gained with painful experience, but how glorious has 
been the result, and the education of the present looks for- 
ward with bright hopes to something more glorious still. 

We must speak of the evolution of the moral nature of 
man. That "self-preservation is Nature's first law" is an 
adage that has been repeated often from time immemorial. 
That it is true in the animal kingdom admits of no dispute, 
and it is more than probable that it was true of primeval 
nan. But if so, there has been an evolution in the moral 



51 



nature of man which, among enlightened nations, has almost 
completely abrogated it. There is a word, not exactly a 
new one, but lately coming into use. It is "Altruism." It 
is the opposite of selfishness. I wish there were some sim- 
pler and plainer way of expressing the idea, but how gladly 
do we see that altruism can take the place of selfishness in 
the most trying moments and critical affairs of life. A 
steamship with hundreds of passengers is sinking. Under 
t\\e law of self-preservation how easy for strong, able- 
bodied men to take possession of the lifeboats and save 
themselves, leaving the weak and helpless to perish. But 
this law of nature is completely set aside, the safety of the 
women and children are first secured, while the men go 
down to a watery grave, but honored as heroes. 

A rough block of marble is not in itself a thing of beauty, 
but within that block there is a statue of a god, or the speak- 
ing likeness of a man. There are forms of grace and beauty 
which no eyes have seen, and they lie there awaiting the 
time when the hand of the artist shall break open their 
stony prison and bring them forth to light. In your mu- 
seum stands the wondrous group of the Laocoon, that fear- 
ful representation of human terror and human suffering. 
There is also the statue of Apollo Belvidere, famous among 
the works of human skill as showing the highest type of 
manly beauty. What long, long ages have past since the 
marble was a part of a coral reef in a boundless sea! 

Our universe is self-supporting. The time that is past 
is no longer than the time that is to come ; and as the history 
of the human race shows a gradual, yet constant, advance in 
knowledge and happiness, what may we not hope for human- 
itv before the final day. 

Education, like all other things, has been subject to con- 
stant change. The study of the classics has, to a great 
extent, been superseded by the investigations of science. 
The old education is like the recoining of gold, changing its 
form, but not increasing its value. The new education is 
the discovery of new mines increasing the wealth of the 
world. 



52 

A LA TERRE SAINTE 

BY JOHN FlNIvEY 

As some gray pilgrim of the Middle Age 

(And I am of the middle age myself, 

That age when all is mythical, — or else 

All practical — when truth of spirit seems 

More real than all the buoyant world of youth, 

When ever on the known's dim edge one dwells, 

Ever in conscious awe of what's beyond. 

That age when seen things are but counterpart 

Of things unseen, or else the memory 

Of something that has been — the happiest age 

Of man and life, unwithered yet of time 

Yet free of all youth's blinding loves and hates), — 

As some gray pilgrim of the Middle Age 

I face each risen day, or bright or dull. 

Tempestuous or calm, and pray my soul 

Long leagues upon the way that souls must take 

Before they reach the far and fair Terre Sainte 

Whose shadow-bounded stretches we divine 

But in our longing for immortal life. 

'Mid dust of earth, in heat and cold and rain. 

O'er far-horizoned heights, through narrow vales. 

Accompanied of glowing sun. or cloud, 

Of one clear star or of the 'circling host. 

My body journeys on through aging time. 

But not to find an empty, open tomb 

As one who sought the Asian sepulchre, — 

I seek the Kingdom of the Risen One, 

Within. — Long, long and toilsome is the way. 

Unceasing must the struggle onward be, 

But there's no other way a la Terre Sainte, 

A la Terre Sainte ! 

Note : The above poem zvas given by Dr. Finlcy at the 
close of his address. It has since been published by 
Charles Scribner's Sons and is here inserted by their kind 
permission. 







'j^^^^l 


■ 




1 






68 



ADDRESS 

OF 

William S. Pelletreau, A. M. 

EPISODES IN THE HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON 

The Coming of the Methodists 

The Liquor Question in the Past 

The Old Town Meeting 

The Schools of the Past 

The Coming of the New Yorkers 



64 



One of the greatest pleasures of the day is to be as- 
sociated with a gentleman whose reputation is far more 
extended than the bounds of our State, and whose name 
must ever be associated with the most earnest and successful 
efforts in behalf of advanced education. From the very 
nature of the case, neither of us can trespass upon the 
other's ground, but each will be the complement of the other, 
and we should be proud indeed if any words that we can 
utter would bear comparison in the slightest degree with 
the learning and eloquence of which he is the recognized 
rr.aster. 

It is with the greatest pleasure that we see here to-day 
the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers of Southampton, the 
settlers who remained during the first year. The Howells, 
the Halseys, the Coopers, the Piersons, the Sayres and the 
Stanboroughs still remain. In addition to these we also 
see the descendants of those who might be called the second 
colony, who came at a later period. First the Rogers, the 
Fordhams, the Fosters, the Raynors, the Bishops, the Jag- 
gers, the Culvers, the Whites, the Jessups, the Cooks, the 
Toppings, the Reeves, the Fowlers, the Herricks, the Hil- 
dreths and the Posts, and may their names ever remain. 
With them are representatives of those families whose 
names are an inseparable part of the history of the State. 
We have honored descendants of the Van Rensselaers of 
the great Manor of Rensselaer Wyck; and of the Lords of 
the Manor of Livingston, that family who, from their politi- 
cal influence, their wealth and intellectual powers, justly 
merited the title of the "royal family." Besides these we 
see the descendants of Lyon Gardiner, the Lord of the Isle 
of Wight, better known, perhaps, as Gardiner's Island. 

In the presence of such a company we feel very sadly our 
own position as being that of a newcomer, for we have only 
been in Southampton one hundred and ninety-eight short 
years, while the others we have mentioned have made a long 
lap over the two-century mark. Notwithstanding this, we 
ccnsider ourselves as being of Southampton, through and 



50 



through. It was the home of our ancestors, the place of 
our birth, and we trust that our final resting place will be 
within Its limits. To collect and preserve its history has 
been the greatest pleasure of our life, and perhaps one of 
its most useful acts; and, standing here, we cannot help 
feeling something of the exultation that made the Scottish 
chieltain, i<.ob ivoy, exclaim, "My foot is on my native 
heath, and my name is Macgregor." 

Thirty-nine years ago we stood upon this spot and spoke 
of the political changes in Southampton since the time of 
the settlement. Twenty-five years ago, in Agawam Hall, 
vve narrated the changes in social and family life since the 
settlement; and to-day it is our privilege to speak of a few 
episodes in Southampton history in more recent years, and 
to give an account of events, the memory of which is fast 
passing away, and unless recorded now will soon pass into 
oblivion. The church in Southampton was coeval with the 
settlement. The first meeting house was on the south side 
of Church Lane near the present hospital. A new one was 
built in 1652. The settlements of Mecox and Sagaponack 
begun at an early date, rapidly increased. To attend church 
in Southampton, when the journey could only be made on 
horseback, would prevent most of them from attending. A 
church or meeting house for their use was a necessity, and 
one was built on the west side of Sagg pond in 1686. The 
bridge which has given the name to the entire eastern part 
cf the town was built in the same year to save the people at 
Sagaponack from a long walk around the head of the pond. 
The two churches were identical in religious belief. They 
were not Puritans, but Separatists, and their creed was the 
strictest Calvinism of the Reformation, and such was the 
state of things when the third church was erected in 1707. 
Sameness of doctrine and a firm belief were the ruling prin- 
ciples of their life. Strictness of life and belief was carried 
to an extent which we, in these days of liberal views, can 
hardly imagine. Two hundred years is a long time to look 
forward to, or look back upon. It was a common belief 
that they were living in the last days, and it would not be 
difficult for them to believe that before that time had passed 
the final day of judgment and the resurrection would have 
come and the world and all things therein would be no more. 



S6 



They looked upon everything from a different point of view 
from ourselves. Now let us suppose that from the point 
of view of 1707 they should be told that two hundred years 
to come there would still be a Presbyterian church, but sadly 
changed from its olden form. No sermons on foreordina- 
tien, or predestination, nor sermons on doctrines of any kind, 
nothing said about infant damnation or original sin or total 
depravity. Only one sermon preached on the Sabbath and 
the hour glass in the pulpit not even turned once. That 
there would be in Southampton a new sect known as Metho- 
dists, who obstinately refuse to believe in foreordination, 
and believed that men saved themselves by their works, 
instead of being saved by grace. Four or five other sects, all 
preaching false doctrines and leading men's souls to per- 
dition. In addition, a vast crowd whose religious creed and 
belief is embraced in three words, "I don't know" ; to say 
nothing of others without any belief, but who live without 
God or hope in the world; that Sabbath-breaking would be 
the rule and Sabbath-keeping the rare exception. If they 
were told that this would be Southampton two hundred 
years to come, they would have held up their hands in holy 
horror — no such state of things could possibly exist with- 
out an utter subversion of church and state, and Satan's 
kingdom had come to Southampton, and come to stay. It 
would be certain that the vials of God's wrath were filled 
up and ready to be poured forth upon a sinful world, and 
such a state of sin and wickedness could be nothing less than 
a harbinger of the speedy coming of the Judgment Day. 

Now the two hundred years have passed into history, 
and looking upon things from the point of view of 1915, 
we see all these sects living together in peace and harmony, 
no one domineering over the rest or wishing to do so. Dif- 
ference in religious belief no longer an excuse for rancor, 
hatred and animosity. What was once called heresy, and 
now freedom of thought, is an undisputed right. The power 
over men's minds and souls once held by creeds and doc- 
trines and dogmas is rapidly passing away, and the tendency 
of modern religious thought is to restore religion to its 
primitive purity and simplicity, knowing that religion ex- 
isted before creeds were invented, and will continue to exist 
when creeds are forgotten. The time and labor once ex- 



57 



pended on lengthy sermons upon doctrines, is now employed 
in doing good in a much better way, and with far greater 
effect. If the peace and tranquility, the comforts, con- 
veniences and luxuries that we have around us is Satan's 
kingdom, then Satan's kingdom is not so bad as it might 
be. It seems more like the Millenium. 

The truth is that our ancestors, excellent as they were, 
and to whose memory we cannot show too much honor and 
respect, were guilty of two mistakes. One was that there 
is no road to heaven except our road, all other roads must 
end in perdition. Another was that Satan's kingdom em- 
braces all who do not think as we think or believe as we 
believe. 

Everything went on quietly in Southampton. In its only 
church the doctrines were preached as they had been for 
two hundred years, when there came to the place what was 
considered a disturbing element. And Southampton has 
reason to bless the day of its coming. 

Methodism began in England in 1723. In 1735 its mem- 
bers were fourteen persons, all students at Oxford, and 
obtained their name from the exact regularity of their lives. 
When they began the whole kingdom of England was fast 
tending to infidelity. Of the theological difference between 
them and the Presbyterians it is hardly necessary to speak — 
but it was the radical difference between predestination and 
treewill, and doctrines at that time were of far greater 
importance than at present. Methodism obtained a foot- 
hold in New York in 1768, and through the unrelaxed ef- 
forts of its leaders it spread in every direction. 

The man who first preached Methodism in Southampton 
was James Sowden. When we have mentioned his name we 
have said almost all that w^e know concerning him. He lived 
in Sag Harbor, and in 181 1 he, wnth others, purchased the 
forge on Forge River, in Brookhaven. Beyond this we 
know nothing. But that he was the first to preach Metho- 
dism in this place we have heard from the lips of men who 
heard him preach. Of course, the Presbyterian church, 
which for two centuries had been alone in the field, looked 
with great disfavor upon the new sect. Is it strange that 
they were not permitted to hold meetings in the church? 
Would the present pastor and session be willing that Mor- 



68 



liion elders should proclaim their doctrines from their pul- 
pit? is it strange that the minister shouid leel constrained 
to preach a sermon from the text, "'ihese men who have 
turned the world upside down have come hither also !"' They 
were not allowed to hold meetings in the school house, for 
that was practically under Presbyterian control, fjut there 
was a man in the South Knd named James Raynor. He 
owned the house still standing and well known as the 
"Hollyhocks," which is to-day the oldest house in Suh'oik 
County. Of course, he must have been a wanderer from 
the highway, for he gave them the use of his north room. 
When the eleven disciples met in the upper chamber in 
Jerusalem, how little they imagined that the faith they alone 
believed would one day be the ruling power of the world. 
And how little the few persons who met in the house of 
James Raynor could anticipate the future influence and 
prosperity of the church they founded. For some years 
they, as a society, must have had a struggling existence. 
There was a power for evil in the community to which they 
could not help being opposed. When liquor selling and 
liquor drinking were universal no Methodist was ever ac- 
cused of either. Their numbers gradually increased until 
there seemed to be a prospect of building a church. 

In 1843 3. new Presbyterian church was erected. The 
old building, built in 1707, stood on the south side of the 
home lot of Captain Albert Rogers, who was very anxious 
U) have it removed. There were rumors that the Metho- 
dists were scheming to get possession, and to head them 
off the church officers sold the building to Major Samuel 
Bishop, who intended to move it to his own premises as a 
barn. The story goes that the major was subject to occa- 
s'onal fits of hypochondria, during which he was inclined to 
take a dismal view of his chances of happiness in the world 
to come, that the Methodists, as the saying is, "got around 
him," and gave him to understand that his prospects of sal- 
vation would be by no means increased if he changed the 
house of God into a barn, and. moved by these consider- 
ations, he sold it to the new sect for the same sum he had 
paid for it. At the same time they purchased a lot from 
Captain Charles Howell and made preparations for moving 
the building. When Captains Rogers found, to his aston- 



59 



ishment and disgust, that the church he was so anxious to 
have taken from the south side of his lot was to be planted 
on the north side, he made some very energetic remarks, 
which we do not feel called upon to repeat. The work was 
accomplished, however, and the church, under its^w nanie, 
was dedicated in 1845, the first minister being Rev^pitbert 
Osborn, of Riverhead. The society started under oppo- 
sition from the very beginning. When they held their meet- 
mgs in the house of James Raynor people who would not 
attend them would look in the windows to see their per- 
formances. It was admitted by all hands that they were 
"a queer set." Why: instead of standing up to pray, "as 
folks ought to do," they knelt down. Worse than that, they 
let women speak in meeting. This was contrary to Scrip- 
ture. Doesn't St. Paul say, "Let your women keep silence, 
in the churches." We are not a biblical commentator, bui 
v/e conclude that women had not kept silence in St. Paul's 
tjme, and that it was as difficult to make them as it has 
been in later years. Another fact which prejudiced the 
religious portion of the community against them was thai 
the doctrines they preached were contrary to what had al- 
ways been taught as the truth. Anything that was not in 
the Presbyterian confession of faith and the Westminster 
catechism must be false doctrines. It was the old story, 
"No road to Heaven but our road." To preach free will 
instead of foreordination was profanation indeed. Of all 
the objections that were made by the religious part of the 
community, none was so frequently heard as this, "They 
preach the doctrine that men can save themselves." 

Another source of prejudice was that many of them were 
"newcomers." In that respect Southampton was always 
clannish. Social condition also had an influence which the 
present generation can hardly understand, and of which 
the next generation will be wholly ignorant. The taunt 
was frequently heard, "The people who sit on the front 
seats in the Methodist church are the same ones who sat 
in the back seats in the Presbyterian." This social differ 
ence continued to a comparatively recent date. We dis 
tinctly remember, when speaking of a very prominent man 
in t^he place, some people remarked, "It was strange that he 
would permit his daughter to marry a Methodist." And it 



60 



vvas also true in Southampton, as it was in many other 
places, that the blameless life of its members was a standing 
reproach to those whose lives were just the opposite. The 
highest praise that was ever given to Methodism was in one 
brief sentence by Dr. Chalmers, "Methodism is Christian- 
ity in earnest." And they were certanily in earnest here. 
Nobody who remembers the "protracted meetings" of the 
past will ever forget them. Those who attended them were 
spoken of as "shouting Methodists," while some, on the 
other hand, spoke of Presbyterianism as a "dead alive 
church" whose ministers were "college-bred readers of 
sermons." 

Nothing illustrates the practical difference between these 
churches in the past, in their relation to social life, like the 
prayer meetings in the school house. This was a time- 
honored custom long since passed away, but well deserves 
to be kept in remembrance. 

In a Presbyterian meeting, the seats, or benches, were 
generally sufficient for all present. In all meetings the 
women sat on one side of the room and the men on the 
ether. There was always an elder present who presided. 
Of course, he knew every person in the room, and he would 
call upon the nearest member to make a prayer. Then there 
would be a hymn, in which all joined. The women took 
no other part. St. Paul would have had everything his own 
way in that respect. There would be no exhortation or 
speaking of any kind. When the last church member had 
prayed, the elder would close with a short prayer, and the 
meeting was ended. There might be a few words of recog- 
nition to near acquaintances, and each one taking the lamp 
or candle he had brought, the whole company would march 
away to their homes as silently as an army of spectres. 

When there was a Methodist meeting everything was 
changed. The audience was decidedly different. The 
tenches were not only filled, but standing room was fre- 
quently occupied. One sinner, who was asked why he was 
ti:ere, replied, "I come to see something that has life in it." 
There was another sinner whom one might mention who 
was there for the same unworthy purpose. There are no 
elders in that church, but there was always some one pres- 
ent who was recognized as a leader, and he presided. There 



61 



A'as no formal calling npon each man in turn. Brother 
A would promptly begin, and if his prayer did not reach 
the throne above, it would not be from lack of fervency, 
nor from want of elevation of voice. This would be fol- 
lowed by a hymn, and they sang with the spirit and the 
iirxderstanding. Nobody had to have a book in his hand 
t( tell what they were singing. There was no nonsense of 
'"sacrificing the words to the melody." The words and the 
iiielody went together, and every one was better for it, as 
they would be now. A sister would follow in prayer. Had 
St. Paul been present he would have been scandalized at 
th.e flagrant violation of his commands. There was no 
waiting for turns. Another brother would give an exhorta- 
tion and relation of his religious experience, and a sister 
would promptly follow with the same. When all had 
spoken or prayed, and the meeting closed, it would be fol- 
1 )wed by an animated conversation. It was no uncommon 
thing for a second prayer meeting to be started which lasted 
to the small hours of the night, when all departed with love 
and best wishes. It was this feeling of fraternity which 
kept Methodism alive in Southampton when to raise a 
hundred and fifty dollars for the minister's salary was a 
question of very serious difficulty. Now if any one should 
suppose that there was any real difference in these meetings 
he would be greatly mistaken. There was in both the same 
earnest belief, the same steadfast hope, and the same desire 
to do good. The only difference was in the way of doing it. 
Of all the persons we knew there was no one more typical 
of early Methodism than the one we will mention. When 
a small boy, and working with an uncle in the "south-end 
lot," a man came to us from the street. They greeted each 
other as old acquaintances and had a long and pleasant 
conversation. When he went away we incjuired. with boy- 
ish curiosity, "What man is that?" "That is Philip 
Reeves." "Where does he live?" "Wherever night over- 
tikes him." He was truly an instance of a man without a 
home. He belonged to one of our oldest families. He 
had wealthy relatives, but they ignored him completely. 
The poorest one ga\ e him a temporary home and made him 
comfortable while in the place; where he lived elsewhere 



62 



we never knew. But he was Methodist through anl 
through, and was a perfect ilkistration of the hymn: 

"No foot of land do I possess, 
No cottage in this wilderness, 
A poor wayfaring man, 
Awhile I dwell in tents below, 
Or gladly wander to and fro, 
Till I my Canaan gain. 
Yonder's my home and portion fair, 
My kingdom and my heart are there, 
And my eternal home." 

No storm kept him away from the church. The prayer 
meeting found him ever present. He had a speech and a 
prayer, both somewhat lengthy. His exhortation began 
with the formula, "Friends and fellow travelers with me, 
from time to a boundless and never-ending eternity." His 
prayer began, "Most kind and indulgent Father, we. the 
sheep of Thv pasture and the work of Thy hands," and 
ended with the words, "And Thy name be praised bv everv 
creature." He then repeated the Lord's prayer with great 
fervor and earnestness. A person who heard him for the 
first time would certainly think that he had a most won- 
derful gift for prayer and exhortation. But when thev 
heard it week after week, and month after month, and year 
after vear, the question would arise, "Where did he get it 
in the first place?" To us this question has alwavs been 
a mystery. No such speech and prayer as that could ever 
l^e extemporized, and vet it showed no signs of being pieced 
together. It was, sometimes, rather tedious and inoppor- 
tune, especiallv when it came near the close of a meeting. 
But we never heard any one utter a single word of ridicule 
cr impatience. No person having the slisfhtest shadow of 
sentimentalitv could help envving his childlike faith, and 
no one had the .slightest doubt of his sinceritv. Tt was a 
striking example of the eloquence of simplicitv. Tt made 
no difference to him whether he had a home in this world 
cr not. He knew that there was awaiting him a home 
not made with hands in the New Jerusalem. How often 
do we hear the expression, "Heaven, if there is any." "The 
world to come, if there is any future world." No such 



63 



fhought as this ever entered the mind or escaped the hps 
ci Phihi) Reeves. Heaven and the world to come were 
j;-.st as real to him as the world around us is real to us. 
He died in the early sixties. Neither his wealthy relatives 
nor his Methodist brethren saw fit to erect a tombstone, 
and he rests in an unmarked grave. But the resurrection 
v.ill tind him just the same, and whoever reaches Heaven 
^v■ill find Philip Reeves there. 

It is a pleasure to call to remembrance the names of 
Jeremiah Reeve, William Jagger. Captain Charles Goodale, 
Zebulon Jessup, Daniel Hildreth, Erastus Hubbard and Na- 
thaniel Fanning. These men bore the burden and heat of 
the day. They labored and others have entered into their 
labor. 

Prejudice between the two churches showed itself in 
many ways, but we never heard one word from the Pres- 
byterian pulpit reflecting upon Methodism. Nothing, how- 
ever, would induce Dr. Wilson to preach in the Methodist 
church, and yet it would not be bigotry. H' pressed to give 
a reason he would say, "These people preach doctrines 
which are diametrically opposite to ours. Now. without 
prejudice to them as a sect, and still less as individuals, if 
1 should preach in their pulpit, it would be looked upon as 
indorsing their doctrines; and that we can never do." Dr. 
Wilson was fully abreast of his own times, and he cannot 
le blamed for not being ahead of them. This logic was 
perfectlv valid at a time when doctrines were of more con- 
sequence than anything else, but has little weight now, when 
other things are considered of greater importance. 

For long years the church labored under great pecuniar,- 
difficulties. The salary was one hundred and fiftv dollars 
a year. It followed that most of the ministers were young 
men, and unmarried. Wealth, as we now understand it, 
was entirely unknown. All the members were in very 
moderate circumstances, and nothing but the most intense 
zeal could have supported the society. If the minister were 
married he had fifty dollars extra. If the present occupant 
of the Methodist pulpit can inform the communitv how a 
wife can be supported on fifty dollars a year, he will confer 
a favor which will be gladly received and highly appreci- 



64 



ated. And, incidentally, it might lead to a very rapid in- 
crease in his wedding fees. 

Notwithstanding the prejudice which showed itself in 
various ways, we never heard a word from the Presbyterian 
pulpit which reflected in the least upon the Methodist church 
cr its members or its doctrines. And we can say the same 
as regards the regular ministers of the other society. But 
there was a class of itinerant preachers, professional ex- 
horters, who seemed to delight in the opportunity. These 
were the men who spoke about "college-bred readers of 
sermons." We remember hearing one of them in his so- 
called sermon remark, "You ask a Presbyterian if he ex- 
pects to be saved, and he will say, 'I hope so,' and 'perhaps 
so,' and 'maybe so,' and 'I guess so'; but a Methodist says, 
'I know so.' " Such a speech might indicate, somewhat, 
a want of that humility which is considered one of the 
greatest of virtues, and a person so positive as to his future 
salvation might well pause to consider that he was in a 
sinful world, surrounded by temptations, and, yielding to 
them, might fall from grace and be a backslider, a state 
of things not wholly unknown to the early church, and pos- 
sible in the present. 

There is an anecdote, so thoroughly characteristic of the 
times, and also of the individuals, which we will repeat all 
the more willingly from the fact that we know it to be true. 

A deacon in the Presbyterian church had a son engaged 
in business in Bridgehampton. One day he came over to a 
neighbor's house (that of a near relative) in great agitation 
of mind. "Aunt Betsy, they say that my son is courting a 
Methodist girl in Bridgehampton. Now, I can't have that. 
1 can have no Methodist around me. I must stop that." 
The lady whom he addressed had more liberal views, and 
she said, "Deacon, she may be a very nice girl, and if you 
can find nothing worse than that, you had better not make 
any trouble." To this the deacon made the very uncom- 
plimentary remark that he believed she was more than half 
Methodist herself, and added, "I must go and stop that 
before things get anv worse." Accordingly he started off 
the next morning, bright and early, to go and break up the 
match. Towards night he returned, and he came over to 
the neighbor's house in post haste. "Don't say a word. 



65 



Aunt Betsy, she is rich; she is rich!" Tt is said that charity 
covers a muUitnde of sins, but weaUh will cover quite as 
many. 

The honor and the credit of breaking down the wall of 
division between the two churches is justly due to Rev. 
William Neal Cleveland. At that time the pastor of the 
Methodist church was Rev. William Wake. Of him we 
will say that as a preacher he was the clearest enunciator 
that we ever heard speak. He would have been just the 
man to teach the English language to foreigners. 

It was a rainy Sabbath, and few present, and Mr. Wake 
and his flock concluded to go to the Presbyterian church. 
They took back seats, as some supposed they ought to have 
done. What was the surprise of some of the congregation 
when Mr. Cleveland came down from the pulpit and asked 
Mr. Wake to occupy it with him. He did more than this. 
He asked him to make a prayer, which he did, and, as one 
man remarked with most commendable charity. "It was 
a prettv good prayer, too, for a Methodist." Some two 
weeks later he asked him to preach, and the invitation was 
accepted. The veil of the temple was rent. The middle 
wall of separation was broken down in an instant. The 
prejudice was like a soap bubble, presenting a large appear- 
ance, flashing in the sunlight, reflecting all the colors of the 
rainbow, but in a flash it is gone and nothing left. No one 
expressed any regret, but many expressed their approval 
The truth is, the hour had come, and the man was ready 
for the hour. Of the present harmony and peace it is need- 
less to speak, it speaks for itself. They have steeples and 
bells, as Bishop Asbury feared, but no one seems to be 
worse for it. They have an educated and talented min- 
ister, and nobody complains, and the ministry is well sup- 
ported. They have fashionable singing, to be sure, which 
nobody can understand, but then we cannot expect to have 
everything good, and the church, having survived all its 
early troubles, is going on, conquering and to conquer. 

The Bible and the public schools are the foundation of 
American liberty, and of these institutions, the Methodist 
church, its clergy and its people are the boldest, the strong- 
est and the most successful defenders. 



66 



At the present time we hear a great deal about nim 
selling, rum drinking, the Demon Rnm. But of all this 
audience how many ever saw any rum, or know how it 
looks, or how it tastes. But if any one had come to South- 
ampton in the early part of the last century and could find 
a man who did not know how rum looked and how it tasted, 
and did not taste altogether too much of it, that man would 
be lonesome. One can hardly realize now how largely 
liquor then entered into the affairs of life. Beer had not 
been introduced, whisky was hardly known. West Indian 
rum with a heavy percentage of alcohol was the regular 
thing. The sloops and schooners that sailed from Sag 
Harbor to the West Indies came back with that as a large 
part of their cargo. AVhen the storekeeper advertised a 
"good stock of West India goods," it meant sugar, molasses 
and rum, especially the latter. The account books of the 
most prominent merchant in the place showed more money 
spent for rum than for tea, coffee, sugar and molasses, com- 
bined. At that time tea and coffee were luxuries, to be 
used on rare occasions. It is one of the changes of modern 
times, that things which were considered luxuries seldom 
used are now articles of comfort and necessaries of daily 
use. Every store and tavern kept it as a regular com- 
modity. There was a place where ]\Ir. Parrish now lives. 
There was another on Mr. James E. Foster's premises ; 
there was another on Rhodes' corner, which we well re- 
member; another on Mr. Edward Huntting's premises; 
there was another on the Methodist church grounds, and 
another where ]\Irs. Henrv F. Herrick lives; while the 
place that did the largest business of all was in the old 
house, still standing, but slightly moved, and stood next 
south of Mr. Corwin's store. An old man told us that he 
had seen the floor of the kitchen completely covered with 
casks of rum, and as all the places were running at the 
same time, Southampton was most decidedly "wet." Now, 
the men who kept these places were the most respectable 
and substantial citizens of the place. It was considered 
no more disreputable to sell liquor than to sell molasses, 
It was no discredit for a man to drink unless he got drunk. 
But, alas, that was only too frequent. It was one of the 



67 



necessaries of life. A man who should refuse a jug of 
rum to his laborers in the harvest field would be considered 
as a man would be now who should refuse a jug of water. 
Stimulants are dangerous just in proportion to their stimu- 
lating power. Tea and coffee are stimulants, but their use 
can be easily given up, though some of us would miss them 
greatly. Tobacco is a stimulant, and some think that the 
habit might be easily given up. But let them ask a whaling 
captain how sailors feel when they get out of tobacco on a 
long voyage, and they might change their minds. But the 
man who becomes addicted to rum soon finds himself under 
a control which he cannot shake off — the moment he ceases 
drinking there is a sense of "goneness" and a craving which 
he cannot resist. No doubt at the present time there are 
men who drink too much, but the habitual and confirmed 
drunkard is unknown — but then they were only too com- 
mon. The "drunkard's grave" was something more than 
a figure of speech, it was one of the saddest of sad reali- 
ties. An elder of the Presbyterian church once informed 
us that he made fifty dollars on a hogshead of rum by the 
simple process of putting two gallons of water to three 
of liquor and selling the whole at sixpence a "short horn." 
Such a state of things would be utterly impossible now. 
No evangelical church would admit or retain in its mem- 
bership the liquor seller or the liquor drinker. The fright- 
ful effects of the liquor habit are seen on every hand. Lives 
V. ere cut short, reputations ruined, property lost. In one 
of the most fertile portions of the town every farm but one 
was lost by the help of rum. Throughout the country the 
case was the same, and the United States seemed likely to 
become a nation of drunkards. We never knew but one 
man who had become a confirmed drunkard, who had the 
will power sufficient to break the chain, and the case was 
so remarkable that it well deserves mention. He was a 
man of middle age. and his business was fishing on the 
beach. He had reached that point where his case was 
considered hopeless, and he consumed a quart of liquor 
a day. Upon going, as usual, to have his jug filled, he re- 
marked in a manner of bravado : "I am not going to spend 
any more money for rum." "Why," said the storekeeper, 
"if you should stop drinking you wouldn't live a week." 



68 



That remark made him think, "Is it possible that if I stop 
drinking I wouldn't live a week? I'll try it and see." He 
took his jug with him, as he said, so that if he found he 
was dying he would have it to fall back upon. He told us 
that for four days his sufferings were frightful. After 
that the craving gradually went off. and he lived the rest of 
his life a temperate and useful man. 

The temperance reform came to Southampton in 1826, 
v/hen Rev. Peter H. Shaw was pastor of the church. The 
General Assembly had awakened to the danger of the 
country and the church, and had recommended to the clergy 
to preach against it. Rev. Lyman Beecher was among the 
first, and his printed sermons were read by Mr. Shaw in 
his Sunday evening meetings. These caused excitement 
and opposition, and it was with great reluctance that he 
obtained from the Session permission to preach against the 
evil. All the influence of the liquor seller, as well as the. 
liquor drinker, was arrayed against him. He invited the 
help of the ministers of East Hampton, Sag Harbor and 
Bridgehampton, but none stood by him, all refused their 
help. When the day came the Old Church was full. As he 
said, "Every drunkard was staring me in the face." He 
preached for an hour and a half in the morning, and more 
than an hour in the afternoon, and to such good effect that 
in the evening the first temperance society was established 
in Southampton. From that time to this the cause has 
teen progressing. It is too true that liquor is still sold, 
and still drank. But the place is not what it once was as 
regards the liquor habit. All this has been accomplished 
by moral suasion, by the united efforts of the churches, 
and by the general elevation of the tone of society, but not 
by prohibition. There used to be great abuse of those 
"who would rob the poor man of his beer," but the poor 
man is getting awake to the fact that beer and whisky are 
robbing him, and he acts accordingly. 



The town meeting is one of the oldest institutions in the 
country. It began in the times of the Pilgrim Fathers, 
and still exists. It must be distinctly understood that South- 



69 



ampton was from the beginning an integral part of New 
England, and separated from it politically only by acci- 
dent. If it had been left to the will of the people, we would 
have been still a portion of Connecticut, and governed by 
laws from Hartford, or New Haven. But in all things 
else, in race, manner and customs, rules of life, religious 
thought, language, dialect, and the inner life of the people, 
we were, till within the last hfty years, a part and parcel 
of New England. 

The tovk^n meeting began when the town began, but in 
the beginning it was an oligarchy, and not a democracy. 
None voted but freemen and freeholders. There were full- 
grown men in the town, but they were no more recognized 
as voters of the town than they were recognized as owners 
of the undivided lands. It was not till the patent of Gov- 
ernor Dougan, in 1686, that the town meeting, which had 
always existed, received a formal recognition, and to be 
held on a certain day. The day was to be the hrst Tuesday 
in April, forever, and the officers to be elected were twelve 
trustees, two constables and two assessors. The Town 
Clerk seems to have been considered a town officer from 
the earliest times, but he had no executive power, but all 
the rest were of more recent origin. The first Supervisor 
appears in 1693. Commissioners of Highways, Overseers 
of Poor and some other officers were of later date. Jus- 
tices of the Peace were officers of the Crown, and were 
appointed by and received commissions from the Governor, 
and were not elected until after the Revolution. This ex- 
plains the story or legend that when Capt. John Scott was 
made Justice of the Peace he rode into the town waving 
his commission and shouting, "Now I will make North 
Sea to tremble and the town to fear me." Some inferior 
officers, such as Poundmasters and Fence Viewers, were 
afterward added. The town meeting, which we so well 
remember, was, as it had been for two centuries, the great 
day of the year. People from all parts of the town met 
together, and relatives greeted each other who had not met 
since the last town meeting. It was a long journey from 
one end of the town to another, and not made easily or 
often. But to-day a man can go from Sag Harbor to 
Speonk or Eastport and get back to dinner if he wants to. 



70 



It is amusing to recall that religious people considered 
town meeting "a day of great temptation." What these 
temptations could have been in that virtuous age it would 
be difficult to tell. It was whispered that some men would 
drink too much; but we never saw a drunken man. Bad 
boys would pitch pennies, and it was curious that that was 
the only day in the year when they indulged in that sintui 
amusement. It was also rumored that horses were swapped 
with the usual amount of honesty and truthfulness, in our 
earliest days two or three colored women would have stands 
where they sold root beer and plam eatables. The Metho- 
dist people usually had a dinner and a fair, the proceeds 
of which went a long way towards paying the minister's 
salary. Occasionally there would be "vendues" or auction 
of personal property. We once saw a man selling ox yokes 
and bows. If they were offered to-day, half the population 
would have to inquire what they were. Town meeting 
leally began the week before. The last Tuesday in March 
was town auditing day. Then the Supervisor, Town Clerk 
and Justices met in Capt. Charles Howell's bar room (as 
it was called) and settled town accounts. One day was 
long enough. The Commissioners of Highways and Over- 
seers of Poor brought in their accounts, bills against the 
town were presented and paid. Strange to say, the greatest 
debate we ever heard was over doctors' bills. People with- 
out means would run up a bill, and the doctor would en- 
deavor to get from the town what he could not get from 
his patients. This led to a rule that in such cases the doctor 
should make one call, and then report to the Overseer of 
the Poor. This caused a great diminution in the bills. At 
the close of the meeting the Supervisor would hand two 
dollars to each of the auditors. We don't know that there 
was any law for it, but we do know that it was not refused. 
Auditing day was also the tirne for a caucus to nominate 
town officers. The great strife was over the collectorship, 
which in that golden age sometimes paid as high as five 
or six hundred dollars. When we held the office of clerk, 
by stretching an elastic conscience to the breaking point, 
we managed to present a bill for forty dollars. The Super 
visor shook his wise head and looked grave; but the bill 
was paid. It was with great interest and amusement tlui! 



71 



we saw in the papers an account of the election expenses 
of our iUustrious successor in the ofhce. It seems that he 
paid out $282. If we had done the same we should have 
certanily come out — x. We noticed a large bill for cigars. 
xNOthing said about drinks, but that, of course, is because 
Sag Harbor is a "temperance village." 

i he town meetnig was held in the basement of the Pres- 
byterian church. As Town Clerk, it was our duty to be on 
hand early with the ballot box. There was then in the 
Clerk's ohice a little ballot box which had probably been 
used for a hundred years. It was about as large as a good- 
sized cigar box, with one hole in the top. Shortly before 
our time a new ballot box had been made with three par- 
titions. We could easily carry it under our arm. The 
tickets were a little strip of paper about eight inches long. 
At the present time we have heard the ballot compared 
to a bed blanket, and as for the ballot box — it is more like 
a dry-goods box. 

From the earliest times the Justices always presided at 
tlie town meeting. There was a table in the basement, and 
the voting began by eight o'clock. The clerk placed the 
box on the table and arranged his paper for keeping the poll 
hst. Jonathan Fithian, Esq., stood by the table, and as 
each man came he took his ballot, called out his name and 
placed the ballot in the box. The Clerk, then new to the 
cffice, took a good look at the voter, and after that he knew 
the man and his name. It seems almost incredible that 
there was a time when we knew every voter in the town 
and where he lived, with the exception, perhaps, of a very 
few in Sag Harbor. In those virtuous days it was not 
considered necessary to shut a man up in a closet to keep 
him from being corrupted by outside influence. There was 
nothing to guard against. 

W^e are told that all men are created equal. But it is 
quite certain they never stay so. The old town meeting was 
the purest democracy the world has ever seen. Every man 
in that room had exactly the same rights and the same priv- 
ileges. But if some irresistible power had taken each man 
by the back of his neck and put him in a particular place 
and told him to stay there, they could not have been more 
effectually separated into different classes, by a sort of 



72 



natural gravity. Difference in social position, education, 
natural ability, pecuniary circumstances, ambition, or the 
lack of it, all seemed to put each man where he belonged. 
Year after year the same men sat m the front seats, and 
the same men sat m the rear. The same men made speeches, 
the same men listened. The same class of men held offices, 
and the same class were always voters. There were those 
who were recognized as men of weight and inliuence, and 
others who were nothings and nobodies. There were big 
tuads in the puddle, and there were little toads; but every- 
body knew which was which. 

The town meeting proper began at ten o'clock. The bal- 
lot box was turned bottom up on the table, and the clerk 
prepared to keep the minutes. There was a settee just long 
enough for the four Justices. In front there was a sort 
of pulpit from which a good many orthodox sermons had 
been preached. In East Hampton the town meeting was 
opened with prayer by the minister, but this was never the 
case in Southampton. 

Squire Fithian presided. The clerk read the minutes of 
last town meeting. Then followed the election of Pound- 
masters, four in number, and in different parts of the town. 
I'here was no demand for this office, and the former occu- 
pants were elected by what the Latin class would now call a 
zviwa woke vote. Then followed the election of Town 
Trustees. There was a time when they were the most im- 
portant officers of the town, but now the office is like a 
mathematical point, "position without magnitude." They 
have theoretically the management of all the waters of the 
town, but they do nothing. Some one would say, "I move 
tl at the old board be re-elected.'' There was no opposition, 
and the twelve Trustees were elected in about twelve sec- 
onds. Then followed general business. This was the 
chance for a certain class to make a motion or put in a 
word, as some said, "just to let people know that they were 
there." One of the virtues ascribed to Old Grimes in the 
s')ng was 

"He made no noise town meeting days, 
As many people do." 

The first thing was in relation to the "Dog Fund." There 
was a tax on dogs, which was intended to pay the damage 



73 



done by them to sheep. As there were a great many dogs 
and very few sheep, the balance could be voted for other 
purposes. Sometimes it was given to the Supervisor to eke 
out the contingent tund, sometimes to the Overseer of the 
i'oor, sometimes to the Commissioners of Highways. This 
being over, other things were m order. 

One thing should be mentioned, it was the settled policy 
never to permit a man to bring his private grievances into 
a town meeting, if he had any dispute with any one he 
must settle it outside, it was sometimes attempted, but 
never successfully. 

The Commissioners of Highways read their report, and 
the Overseers of the i^oor. The amount voted for the 
former for the coming year might be $600 or $800, seldom 
more. Five hundred dollars was generally enough for the 
support of poor, who were then kept in an old-fashioned 
house at Sagaponack. This sum in war times was greatly 
increased. By this time noon had come and the meeting 
adjourned for an hour. Promptly at one o'clock it re- 
assembled and unhnished business taken up. Sometimes 
the meeting would be enlivened by a joke. On one occasion 
the question arose as to what was a proper fence. Some 
wag (we beheve it was Judge Hedges) offered the follow 
mg: "Resolved, That a fence Capt. Charles Goodale can'l 
straddle, that lawyer William H. Gleason can't crawl 
through, and Major Daniel Y. Bellows can sit on the top 
rail without breaking, shall be a good and sufficient fence." 
The men were all there and enjoyed the joke. Captain 
Goodale was the tallest man in the town, with very long 
limbs; Mr. Gleason, great as he was intellectually, and 
prominent as a lawyer and politician, was physically a little 
weasel of a man who could crawl through most any kind of 
a fence; while Major Bellows tipped the scale at about two 
hundred and fifty pounds. 

By three o'clock all business was generally finished. The 
ballot box was turned right side up and the voting began 
again. Before five o'clock, when it was plain that every 
one had voted who intended to do so, the polls were closed 
The counting began at once. The whole number of votes 
were counted, the "straight tickets" placed in one pile and 
the "split tickets" in another. Each Justice took a handful 



74 



vi the straight tickets and began the count for Supervisor. 
VVhen a majority was found the counting ceased. For 
many years it was not customary to give the exact number 
of votes for each candidate, but there was never any dispute 
as to who was elected, and it was the duty of the clerk 
to notify each officer of his election. It was the law then, 
and we believe is now, that any man elected to a town office, 
should he refuse to accept, he was liable to a hue of hfty 
dollars. That probably accounts for the fact that the pres- 
ent Supervisor, Town Clerk and Collector, especially the 
last, were so prompt to accept and qualify. We cannot 
think of any other reason, so it must have been to avoid 
being fined fifty dollars. 

At the town meetings then, and possibly now, there were 
some queer characters, but we can only mention one. Some 
men from Bridgehampton will smile when we mention the 
name of Herman Woodruff. He was a most quiet and 
inoffensive man, and one whom nature intended should sit 
on a back seat. But he held two offices, and of that fact 
he was mighty proud. He was Poundmaster and Constable. 
Tn those virtuous days Bridgehampton was a peaceful place, 
and the only duty that Herman ever performed as Constable 
was to serve notices to jurymen. When the courts met at 
Riverhead the list of jurors for this town was sent to Her 
man. All his trips throughout the town were made on 
foot, and he once told us that he really believed that he had 
walked enough looking up jurymen to go pretty near round 
the world. Year after year he was regularly nominated on 
both Republican and Democratic tickets, and with a confi- 
dence of victory which other candidates would gladly have 
had, he would come to the Town Clerk on town meeting 
morning and say, "I shall be elected Poundmaster and Con- 
stable. You needn't notify me — T shall accept." For a 
long time everything went smoothly with Herman. But it 
is a long lane that has no turning, and one year he had a 
quarrel with Mr. Orlando Hand, who, by some hocus pocus, 
managed to get a man named Youngs nominated for Con- 
stable at the Republican caucus. When Herman found that 
be had been defeated in the house of his friends his wrath 
knew no bounds. It waked up all the sleeping lion in his 
nature, and the fun of it was, that nobody ever imagined 



76 



that there was any sleeping lion to wake up. But tread on 
a worm and it will turn, and Herman proved to be what 
Mr. Mantillini would have termed "a demmed savage 
v/orm." His resolution was very quickly taken. Getting 
a large number of Republican tickets printed with his name 
for Constable, he started off on a crusade from Wainscott 
to Speonk. Wherever he met a Republican voter he but- 
tonholed him; made him listen to his tale of woe, express- 
ing very freely his opinion of Mr. Hand and his machina- 
tions, and never left him until he had gained his promise 
for a vote, which was generally very willingly given. When 
town meeting came Herman was triumphantly elected. But 
that year he very prudently waited till the votes v/ere 
counted, and no President of the United States ever entered 
the Capitol at Washington with more elation than Herman 
felt when he came to the clerk and said, "I've been elected 
Poundmaster and Constable; you needn't notify me, T shall 
accept." And his election, acceptance and qualification 
were all simultaneous, for he never had any difficulty in 
finding some citizen who could swear that he was worth 
the sum of two hundred dollars and was willing to risk 
them on the chances of Herman's "faithfully performing 
the duties of the office of Constable." He has long since 
passed away, but we wish that upon his tombstone could 
be the word's, "For fifty years a faithful officer of the Town 
of Southampton." 

When the votes had been counted and the result made 
known the clerk took the ballot box under his arm and went 
home. The meeting was over, and the meeting room was 
like a "banquet hall deserted." 

No one regretted the passing of the old town meeting 
more than ourselves, but we recognized that its time was 
past. In our time the largest number of votes cast was 
500. At the late meeting there were 2,500. Under these 
circumstances, the old state of things is wholly imprac- 
ticable. 



The church and school in Southampton began at the same 
time. The place has never been without both, and we trust 
never will be. The Bible and the public school are the 
foundation of American liberty, and the American people 



7e; 



will see that both are preserved. The first schoolmaster 
here was Richard Mills, and so far as we can find he was 
the first English schoolmaster in the Province of New 
York. He was also the first Town Cierk. His home was 
where the Presbyterian parsonage now stands. In 1657 
he went to Middleburg, on the west end of Long Island. 
From there he went to Westchester, and was Town Clerk 
there in 1661. Here the schoolmaster found himself in hot 
water. The region was debatable land, between the Dutch 
and the English. To the Dutch coming from the west it 
was known as the Cost Dorp, or the East Village, while 
by the English encroaching from the east it was called the 
Westchester. Governor Peter Stuyvesant declared Richard 
Mills the ringleader of what he called the "band of English 
thieves," and sent a company of soldiers, who arrested him 
and put him in prison in New Amsterdam. A few weeks 
in this position brought the schoolmaster to his senses, and 
he addressed a very piteous letter to Governor Stuyvesant, 
or, as he called him), "My dear Lord Stephenson," asking 
for release. But the individual known in the pages of 
Knickerbocker's History of New York as "Peter the Head- 
strong" turned a deaf ear to his complaint, and he con- 
tinued to languish. Soon after he sent another letter, still 
more piteous, stating that he had been "tenderly brought 
up," that continuing in prison would, as he expressed it, 
"perdite" or endanger his life, and urging as an additional 
inducement his intention of "going about his affairs to 
\^irginia," thinking, no doubt, that the Dutch would be 
glad to keep him away from Westchester. A few weeks 
later he was released, but the English account states that 
his imprisonment "caused his death, which happened soon 
after." Such was the unhappy fate of the first school- 
master and the first Town Clerk of Southampton. 

The first schoolhouse stood at the rear of the present 
house lot of Mr. Seymour White. The various school- 
masters, John Laughton, whose elegant autograph would 
be the despair of some of his successors; John Mowbray, 
Thomas Reed and others, figured largely on our town 
records. To be a good penman and understand arithme- 
tic was the principal thing. They earned many an honest 
shilling by writing deeds and wills, a great number of which 



77 



?re still in existence. He stood next to the minister as i 
man of learning. If he conld sing his fortune was made, 
and he would be a welcome addition to all social gather- 
ings, and we may add that in that golden age there was no 
"Regents' examination." The schoolmaster's life was a 
happy one, as it probably is now. But our object is to 
sjieak of the schools as we first knew them. 

\\'here the late Union school building now stands on 
the hill there was, in our youngest days, a low, one-story 
double house which had been built shortly before the Revo- 
lution. It was then owned by Mrs. Jane Proud, who kept 
a "dames' school," though we never heard it called by that 
name. She was a widow lady, and looked to us to be sev- 
erty-five years old. She was a little more than half that 
age. She always wore a black dress and steel spectacles, 
and had a stick that weighed seventy-five pounds — at least, 
that is the way it felt when it came down on our shoulders 
— and she was always knitting a blue stocking. Now. it 
was a great mystery to the boys how she could knit that 
stocking and see us whisper and play at the same time. 
Samuel Herrick. who was a philosopher then and a doctor 
of divinity afterwards, explained it on the ground that 
when she had her spectacles on she could see two ways at 
once. We tried it one time when she left them on the table, 
but found we couldn't see any way; so we had some doubts 
on that point. The room was of fair size, and there were 
low benches along the walls. There were no desks; nil 
the books were on a small table, and each scholar took one 
a* a time, as he needed it. There were about sixteen schol- 
ars, as we remember them, all small children. The school 
1-ooks were very few. There was the "New England 
Primer." where we were taught the elements of readinof 
and theology at the same time. There were verses with 
little pictures annexed. "In Adam's fall we sinned all." 
"Thy life to mend, this book attend." "The eagle's flight is 
out of sight," and another to which our attention was called 
as a warning, "The idle fool is whipped at school." And 
so on down to the, "By Washington great deeds were 
done." 

Then there was "The Child's Guide." with the pathetic 
poem, "Phebe, the Blackberry Girl," and the storv of the 



78 



"Little Miser," the boy who kept his pennies in a little box 
which he hid in the garden, and visited it every day to count 
his treasure; and his father, finding it, took out the pennies 
and put pebbles in their place and a little note : "Foolish 
boy, you have lost what you do not use, and stones will do 
to count as well as money." When Rev. Dr. Samuel E. 
Herrick, at the celebration of 1890, charmed the audience 
vvith his eloquence, he said among other things, "What has 
become of Peter Parley's Geography, with its wonderful 
1 loetry : 

'This world is round and like a ball, 

Is swinging in the air; 
The atmosphere is round it all. 
And stars are shining there.' 
r cannot find one." 

Neither could we. For long years we looked in second- 
hand bookstores and book catalogues, in hopes to find a 
copy, but looked in vain. There was one thing in that little 
book which attracted our attention more than all the rest, 
even more than the wonderful poetry, and that was a pic- 
tnre of a Chinaman "selling rats and puppies for pies." 
Few things are so firmly impressed on our memorv. When 
we forget it we shall not be ourself, but somebodv else. 
Not manv months ago we saw in an auction catalogue a 
copy of Peter Parley's Geography. We attended that auc- 
tion. There were many editions of the book printed, and 
we greatly feared it might not be the one we wanted. But 
when we opened the little book, sure enough, there was our 
old friend the Chinaman with his rats and his puppies. 
That book was in our pocket when we returned home, and 
it would take a great deal more to buy it than it cost us. 
When we take that in our hand it is no longer a book, it 
becomes a magic mirror that reflects scenes long since and 
forever passed awav. We see there the school ma'am and 
her black dress, and her spectacles and the whip (especiallv 
the whip) and the blue stocking. But of all the little boys 
and girls that sat with us in the low benches and read the 
primer and the Child's Guide and studied the little geog- 
raphy and played with us on the hill — not one is now re- 
maining. 

When we graduated to the old North End schoolhouse 



79 



we imagined that we were a big boy, but we could not make 
the schoolmaster think so. When the public school system 
was established, after the Revolution, all the village of 
Southampton west of Littleworth constituted School Dis- 
trict No. 6. Long previous to this, in 1767, a lot had been 
purchased from William Johnes by a committee represent- 
ing that part of the community who wished a school. This 
l'>t was on the main street, and is now the north part of 
Nugent street, and on this a building was erected. Many 
years later, a lot was purchased next south, of the heirs 
of Dr. Isaac Halsey, and an addition was made to the old 
schoolhouse. making a very long building. When the dis- 
trict was divided in 1806, and the north part of the village 
was made District No. 16, the school building was sawed 
in two and the south part moved to the south side of Job's 
lane on a small lot purchased of Mr. Edward Reeves. They 
were thrifty people in those days, and knew a thing or two. 
so they put half of the schoolhouse on the lot they bought 
and the other half in the street. Mr. Reeves, who was also 
up to trap, promptly put out his fence on a line with the 
schoolhouse. so he had more land than he had before, and 
money besides. Of both these schoolhouses. verv accurate 
likenesses have been preserved and will be interesting in 
time to come. But the interior of the North End school- 
house has never been described, and we are glad to be able 
to keep it in remembrance. The building was about thirtv 
feet long and eighteen wide. There was an aisle through 
the center and a stove stood in the middle. On each side 
vv^as a row of big desks, each more than six feet long. There 
was a sloping top. but no moveable lid, and each desk was 
divided into three parts. In front of the desk was a wooden 
bench of the same length. Each desk was intended for four 
bovs. but sometimes five were crowded in. At the north 
end was a stout wooden post cased, which supported the 
chimney. On each side of this was a blackboard, one much 
larger than the other, and also a narrow window which 
could be taken out. The teacher's desk was a heavy, 
clumsv affair, the posts of which would be large enough 
for the rafters of a house in this degenerate age, and 
on the side of the room close to this was another large 
desk. This was not considered a desirable seat, it was quite 



80 



too near the teacher for that. At the extreme south end 
of the room was a short desk and bench. This was for 
colored boys, when there were any, and in front of that was 
a moveable desk, lower and better than the rest, and con- 
sidered a very desirable seat. It accommodated two schol- 
ars. On each side of the aisle in front of the desks were 
low benches for small boys and girls. The boys' desks were 
en the west side of the room. There were two windows 
on each side of the room and one at the south end. The 
boys were anxious to sit by the windows, so as to have 
"more light on their books" — at least, that was the reason 
given. 

Contrary to our own opinion, we were considered a small 
boy, and at first had to sit on the low bench. Then we 
began to study the table book, and those tables of addition 
and the rest — there seemed to be no end of them; but they 
were finally conquered. But the lesson which was con- 
sidered, and very justly, the most important of all was the 
spelling lesson. There is no country in the world where 
the same language is spoken universally so large as the 
United States. And this is in no small degree owing to 
"Webster's Spelling Book." It is said that of this school 
book 21,000,000 copies were printed. It was printed on the 
only press in the country that could print on both sides 
at once, and it reached every part of the land. Among 
other things, it contained the story of the milkmaid who 
counted her chickens before they were hatched, and how 
she came to grief. But the one which was most used in 
our school was Lyman Cobb's Speller. Day after day we 
studied that. Among other things, it contained the poem 
of the "Cuckoo," one of the most beautiful poems in the 
English language. 

When the spelling class was called the boys and girls 
stood up in a row on the floor. All the boys in the summer 
were barefooted, and a straight line was made by putting 
their toes on a crack in the floor. The schoolmaster, with 
book in one hand and a stick in the other, began at the 
head of the class. If a .scholar missed a word the next who 
could spell it went above him, and sometimes a boy or girl 
would go several steps toward the head. When the lesson 
was over the teacher put down the name of the scholar at 



81 



the head, and he then took his place at the foot. The class 
was then numbered, and no scholar forgot his number, and 
all came in regular order the next day. On Friday after^ 
noon the scholar who had been at the head the most times 
received a ticket, which was highly valued. Some of these 
are still in existence. If a boy missed many words, and 
had not studied his lesson, and especially if he had been 
caught whispering, there was another side to the story. He 
was ordered to bend over and put his finger on a nail in the 
floor; the teacher then vigorously applied his ruler where 
he thought it would do most good. It is astonishing how 
't quickened the intellect and improved the manners and 
1 endered the boy more attentive to his book. For the bene- 
fit of the principal of the public school we will say that 
this method is not patented. 

There is one thing about little boys, they don't stay little. 
When we were allowed to sit at a desk, then we were a 
big boy indeed. It was thus that we were promoted to 
Smith's Arithmetic and read in "Sanders' Fourth Reader," 
of which we remember the poem, "How Big Was Alex- 
ander, Pa?" and from that we went to Porter's "Rhetorical 
Reader" and Smith's Grammar. "Peter Parley" had long 
been left behind, and we became introduced to Morse's 
Geography. The change in geography of our country since 
that time is wonderful. Immense territories have been cut 
up into states, whose names were unknown at that time. 
And to speak of other changes in every branch of knowl- 
edge, it would take volumes to contain them. The studies 
v^ere confined to the plain English branches. We wish to 
speak of the customs of the past. The entry to the school- 
house was about six feet square, and half of an ancient 
millstone served as a doorstep. In one corner of the entrv 
was a little shelf, and on it was a water pail, and a tin cup 
hung on a nail. Just before recess in the forenoon two 
boys were sent to Captain Isaac Savre's pump to get a pail 
of water. There was no lack of volunteers for that pur- 
pose. All the scholars drank out of the same tin cup. But 
now what a howl there would be about "unsanitary." They 
have discovered, or pretended to discover, that everything 
is unsanitary. The slate and pencil, the sponge, the tin cup, 
the water pail, the boys that brought it and the boys who 



82 



drank it — all unsanitary. In spite of all the ridiculous non- 
sense about sanitary, the health of the scholars in the North 
End school was better than in the present High school. 
The school was never closed on account of some imaginary 
fear of an epidemic. But one thing we must not fail to 
mention : the goose-quill pen. When they were first used 
must have been in ages long past. But one of the indis- 
pensable qualifications of the old-time school master was 
ability to make a quill pen. Writing of every kind was 
done with them. Look in the advertisements of old news- 
papers, and goose quills were a regular article of trade. 
Charges for quills was one of the regular expenses of a 
lawyer's office, and, in fact, of any other business. When 
a boy started for school a goose quill was part of his outfit. 
When the pen was worn it was the schoolmaster's duty to 
mend it. We remember the last goose quill that made its 
appearance. Old Mr. David White, who lived where Mrs. 
Elmer Smith now lives, had a boy whose name was Charles 
Williams. He was about four feet three inches high and 
sbout three feet four inches in circumference. So it is not 
strange that the boys changed his name to "Daddy Fat." 
Mr. White's ideas of school were the same as when he was 
a boy. So "Daddy Fat" was sent to school with a slate 
and pencil, a very few books and, after the manner of our 
ancestors, a goose quill to make him a pen. Steel pens had 
then come into general use, and when the boy gravely 
handed the goose quill to the schoolmaster that dignitary 
stared in astonishment and said he had not made a pen in 
ten years, had forgotten how and didn't mean to learn. 
Somebody gave the boy a steel pen and all was well. That 
was the last relic of the olden times. 

There was one little girl in the school who was a general 
favorite, and one little boy expressed with great earnest- 
ness and evident sincerity his opinion that she was "the 
prettiest girl in the world." I was not the boy. Then, 
and possibly now, all girls looked alike to us. We might, 
perhaps, say that the boy was rather small, and the world 
is rather large, and there may have been pretty girls that 
he never saw. But we are not disputing the truth of his 
statement. All we can say is, "the prettiest girl in thq 



world" is with us to-day — but we are not naming any 
rames. 

Of all the boys in that school, how few remaining. One 
of them was a captain in after years, and now, with a gal- 
lant ship and a still more gallant crew, rests under the 
waves of the Pacific Ocean. Another perished among the 
icebergs of the North. Another and another found graves 
in distant portions of our own land, and of the few that 
are left, the hand of fortune and chance has scattered them 
so widely that we may almost exclaim, like the messenger 
of evil tidings to Job, "I only am escaped alone to tell thee." 



Every village has its "oldest inhabitant," and South- 
ampton is no exception. The "oldest inhabitant" is apt to 
be of a pessimistic nature, a great admirer of the good old 
times, and looking with no great favor upon modern 
changes. When we spoke with the oldest inhabitant we 
found he had an era from which he dated everything, and 
that was, "Before the Yorkers came here." Then South- 
ampton was Southampton, everybody was virtuous and 
everybody was happy. Now, alas, owing to the baleful 
mfluence of the Yorkers, there are none happy and very 
few virtuous. But they have come and overfiowed us like 
a deluge. But who was the first New Yorker? His name 
was William Onderdonk. He was a member of one of 
the oldest Knickerbocker families, a man of good educa- 
tion, a nephew of Bishop Onderdonk of New York and 
of Bishop Onderdonk of Pennsylvania. With no family 
cares and ample means to enjoy life, after his idea, and 
that idea was to come to Southampton and go gunning. In 
fact, for long years Southampton was his home. For one 
or two months in the winter he may have lived in the city, 
but the earliest in the spring and the latest in the fall he 
lived here, and his home was at the house of Major Josiah 
Foster. We remembered seeing him when a boy. He was 
tall and large, not particularly good looking, and had, as 
we distinctly remember, a very protuberant stomach. Wild 
fowl were abundant in those days, and he was a skilled 
marksman. His attitude towards the people was a sort of 
patronizing familiarity. His being from the city gave him 



84 



a prestige. It was the belief that people who lived in New 
York must be a superior race, an idea not yet wholly ex- 
tinct. Everybody knew everybody; but at that time there 
were not so many either to know or to be known. When 
this church was built he was a liberal contributor. In re- 
sponse to a remark made in his presence, he said, "I am a 
bachelor, but not old." At that time probably not half the 
people had ever seen New York. It took longer to go to 
the city than it now takes to go to Chicago or St. I^ouis. 
And all things considered, it cost twice as much to go there 
as it does now. In his gunning excursion, he had a horse 
named Magnum Bonum. "Ah," said Mr. Onderdonk, 
"what a lie that was. He was neither great nor good. He 
was a very small horse, and he was a vicious devil." When 
old and no longer able to carry a gun, he said that all the 
happiness of his life was gone. He died in New York at 
a very advanced age in 1855. Such was the hrst New 
Yorker. 

The next was of a very different kind. They were the 
three "De Bost boys," Charles, Brunei and Depeyre De Bost. 
Those names will awaken an echo m many of the hearts 
in Old Southampton. They were grandsons of Rev. David 
Schuyler Bogart, for many years minister in this place. 
Their father was a man unfaithful to his trust and neglected 
and deserted his family, and the boys were sent to South- 
ampton by their grandfather to get them away from city 
life, and where they could have the advantages of the acad 
emy then recently established. For long years they wen- 
the life of the place, and most popular among the young 
people. In all fun, frolics and mischief (especially the lastj 
they were the ringleaders. Excellent scholars in the acad- 
emy and full of the vivacity which they had inherited from 
their French ancestry. On Saturdays they were glad of a 
chance to earn a few shillings by helping the farmers. As 
soon as they could raise money to pay for it, each had a 
gun, and their aim was certain. On one occasion Depeyre 
brought a duck to Mr. Onderdonk to learn its name. "My 
boy, that is a fine canvas back duck. I'll give you fifty 
cents for it." The bargain was quickly made and the fifty 
cents went for more powder and shot. The oldest boy, 
Charles, lived with Mr. David White, who lived to the age 



c<f ninety-six. the then oldest inhahitant. The other two 
hved with Mrs. Brown in an old house on the south corner 
of Toilsome lane. When they arrived to manhood they all 
engaged in business in the city. But every summer they 
returned to Southampton as regularly as swallows to their 
old nesting place. Their coming was the herald for a great 
general picnic at Millstone brook. All the young people 
of the place were gathered on that occasion. But new lords 
now own Millstone brook, and with them have come new 
kiws. The picnics are things of the past, but they have 
left pleasant memories behind them. 

The quiet, uneventful, every-day-alike life of Uncle 
David White was in vivid contrast to the rapid career of 
"Charley De Bost," and he used to say that although Uncle 
David White was sixty years older than he was, yet he had 
lived a great deal more than Mr. White. But these people 
who live a great deal in a short time never live to be the 
oldest inhabitant, and Charles De Bost passed away at an 
early age. 

Many years ago there was living in Bridgehampton <i 
young man named Nathan Rogers. He was learning the 
trade of a ship carpenter in Sag Harbor, and one day 
received a terrible cut with an adz, which incapacitated him 
trom further labor. That was Nathan Rogers' lucky day. 
He took up the business of portrait painting, for which he 
had a natural gift. In this he acquired both fame and for- 
tune, and he built the finest house in Bridgehampton, which 
is still standing and known as the "Hampton House." This 
place was purchased by Brunei De Bost, but he only held 
it a short time and went to Chicago, engagfed in business 
and lived and died there. Of the three brothers, Depeyre 
was the only one who still remained connected with the 
place and built the first house in the New Southampton. 
In personal appearance he was very stylish. As a man once 
said to us, "If you should meet Depeyre De Bost in Wall 
street, with his beaver hat and broadcloth and kid gloves, 
and cane and buttonhole bouquet, you would think he owned 
Wall street." No, indeed! We would not think anything 
of the kind. The men who own Wall street never make 
their appearance there in any such garb as that. Those 
who have seen the magnates, whose names are a power in 



86 



the financial world, will agree with us that they are the 
plainest of all plain people. 

Depeyre De Bost was the discoverer of New Southamp- 
ton, and he always insisted that he brought Doctor T. Gail- 
lard Thomas here and introduced him to the place. On 
the other hand. Dr. Thomas declared that De Bost had 
nothing to do with his coming, and he would have come 
here if Mr. De Bost had never lived. We shall not attempt 
to settle this question, but there is one thing certain. If 
Mr. De Bost was the discoverer of Southampton, Dr. 
Thomas was the developer. How he came in possession 
jf his lot is worthy of mention as a reminiscence of the old 
times. In our boyhood days it was owned by an old man 
named Sylvanus Howell, whose father had owned it before 
him. He had been a whaleman in his younger years. He 
lived in his own house, a double, one-story building, where 
the residence of Mrs. Allen now stands. When we knew 
him his only business was to go every day to Uncle "Bob" 
Khodes' store to get his "eleven o'clock drink" and meet 
old cronies. Dr. Wilson, the minister, used to say that 
you could set a clock by the time he went past the par- 
sonage. He had no relatives in Southampton, but he had 
a brother who lived in Lodi, in the western part of the 
state. When old age came on he resolved to sell all his 
property and go and live with his brother. Accordingly 
he made Mr. William R. Post his attorney, to offer the 
property for sale. Farmers went to see the fourteen-acre 
lot and shook their heads. There were two fatal objections 
to that lot. It was all outside fence, and it was next to 
the ocean, and "the ocean was a bad neighbor." At the 
auction the auctioneer expatiated on the richness of the 
soil and its nearness to the village, but he took good care 
not to mention outside fence, nor its proximity to the x\t- 
lantic Ocean. One man had the rashness to bid twenty- 
five dollars an acre. That was hardly enough, and the lot 
v/as "bid in" at that. The next day Capt. Charles Goodale 
offered twenty-seven dollars and a half, and the offer was 
quickly taken. The captain declared that after straighten- 
ing the fence and using the odd rails he had more fence 
than he needed. He said afterwards that he got his money 
back the third year. But people were inclined to take his 



87 



statements with a grain of allowance. When the New 
Southampton had begun to come and Dr. Thomas offered 
^200 an acre, old people shook their heads a second time. 
That Capt. Goodale had made a tremendous bargain was 
undisputed. But anybody who would give such a price 
for such a lot could not be very smart. And as for Dr. 
Thomas, it was a plain case he was "not so smart as he 
thought he was." When we consider that half of that lot 
has been sold at a reputed price of $20,000 we can see the 
difference between the old and the new. And it might lead 
to the conclusion that Dr. Thomas was much smarter than 
his critics. It seems strange to remember that we have 
seen all the land on the south side of Gin lane sold at about 
thirty dollars an acre and called it a good price. At the 
time of Sylvanus Howell's auction another lot was sold, 
and is now the homestead of Mr. Henry A. Robbins. This 
lot is interesting in an historical point of view from the 
fact that it was the original home lot of Richard Smith, 
afterwards the patentee and founder of Smlithtown and 
one of the most remarkable men on Long Island. This lot 
had the disadvantage of outside fence, but it had also the 
advantage of the pond for watering cattle, and it was far 
enough from the ocean to be out of danger. This brought 
the extravagant price of fifty dollars an acre. People shook 
their heads again. Nobody could afford to pay such a 
j-irice unless he had plenty of money, and Capt. Edward 
Savre, who purchased it. was supposed to be in that en- 
viable position. Of its present value we can only guess. 
While Dr. Thomas lived he was one of the most prominent 
of the city colony, and did more to advance the New South- 
ampton than any other person. Like most persons, he had 
his peculiarities. He was great and little at the same time. 
He was a man who would haggle over the price of a dozen 
eggs or a pound of butter, and then give a hundred dollars 
for any public enterprise. His useful life ended too soon 
for Southampton and the world. Why is it that a man of 
his magnificent physique, skilled in medical knowledge, 
knowing how to avoid disease and to cure it when con- 
tracted — why is it that such a man should pass away in the 
prime of life and in the midst of usefulness; while others 
who live in constant violation of all the laws of health and 



88 



know nothing of "sanitary," not even the name, live to be 
among the oldest inhabitants? 

Among those who followed Dr. Thomas was Mr. Wyllis 
Eetts, whom we shall always remember as a learned and 
polished gentleman. And Mr. James B. Ruggles, an emi- 
nent lawyer, the very picture of preciseness, and with a 
primness that is usually considered characteristic of maiden 
ladies of advanced age. The first man who kept a hand- 
some team of horses was Mr. Blaise Lorillard Harsell. 
Mr. Harsell had a coachman named Connor, a very digni- 
fied man, and Mr. Harsell was very fond of driving his 
own team. When people saw Connor with his beaver hat 
sitting bolt upright and doing nothing, and Mr. Harsell 
v/ith a straw hat and linen duster driving the horses, they 
naturally concluded that Connor was the owner of the es- 
tablishment and Mr. Harsell was the "hired man." This 
tickled Mr. Harsell wonderfully when he heard of it. and 
he took considerable pains to keep up the illusion. 

Soon after that came the Hoyts, who for some reason 
v/ere not popular. One day it was rumored that Mrs. Hoyt 
had purchased a lot in the west side of the Town pond 
and was going to build a home there. When Old South- 
ampton ceased wondering why she should build a house so 
far out of the way, the next thing was to suppose that she 
v/ould build it next to First Neck lane, "as other folks 
would do." When they saw a large pile of bricks at the 
east end of the lot near the pond they reasoned again. 
Anybody that would build a house on the wrong end of a 
lot couldn't have much sense. Mrs. Hoyt was going to do 
that very same thing. Therefore (the logic was perfect"), 
she couldn't have much sense. But when other purchasers 
did the same thing it finally dawned upon their benighted 
minds that there might be cases where the wrong end of a 
lot might be the right end. There was another discovery 
about the same time. To Old Southampton the Town pond 
was a place to water cattle, and for boys to learn to swim 
and catch fish with a hook and line, and nothing more. 
But the New York colony soon found that it was a beau- 
tiful lake, and they gave it the beautiful misnomer of Lake 
Agawam, which it still retains. Mr. Hoyt's house was built 
to resemble an old-fashioned mansion, and in some re- 



89 



spects the attempt was successful. Some years later it was 
sold to Charles T. Barney, and while in his possession it 
was burned and never rebuilt. Such was the fate of the 
first house on the west side of the lake. When the city 
colony came they brought the Episcopal church with them. 
It was soon organized, and the old lifesaving establishment 
on the east side of the lake was purchased and moved to 
its present location. Since then it has been so greatly im- 
proved that there is little left of its original form. Most 
people know the then popular opinion concerning the Epis- 
copal church. It was "a rich man's church." It was for 
people who had their good things in this world. It was 
the church whose members were lax in their manners and 
morals, especially as regards Sabbath breaking. It was for 
people who would go to meeting on Sunday, read their 
prayers out of a book, confess that they were miserable 
sinners and spend the rest of the week in demonstrating 
the truth of the statement. Such ideas were very speedily 
dispelled, and no one was more influential in this than 
Mr. George R. Schiel¥elin, a name which we shall always 
hold in honor and respect. For some years we had a com- 
paratively intimate acquaintance and had many long and 
pleasant conversations. There was something about his 
way and manner, his legal knowledge, his classical learning, 
I'is personal circumstances and his social and family con- 
necti(jns, all seemed combined to make his position a very 
enviable one. He drew the articles of incorporation of 
the church, and as he told us, "I want every one who enters 
that church to feel that he is entitled to any seat that is not 
alreadv occupied." Mr. Schieft'elin passed away deeply la- 
mented by a large circle of friends and relatives. It is 
needless to say that the church recently established is wel- 
comed by the entire community, and if any prejudice exists 
we have utterly failed to perceive it. 

We must not fail to mention Mr. Uriel A. Murdock, 
with some peculiarities- — a very jovial and pleasant man. 
But, above all, Mr. Salem H. Wales, who did more than 
any one else to make himself a part of Sontham])ton. There 
was nothing connected with the village in which he did not 
take an active interest. He was a liberal supporter of the 
village library, and we wish that the present officers of that 



90 

institution would show their appreciation of his benevo- 
lence. 

All these, and their associates, have passed away. With 
them we had a personal acquaintance, but with the present 
scarcely any, but the greatest pleasure is to pay our tribute 
of honor and respect to one who has done more for South- 
ampton than all others combined. The founder, of the Art 
Museum has placed the entire community under a debt of 
gratitude which can never be fully paid. No one can enter 
that building and leave it without being wiser and better 
for the visit. We simply echo the wish of all, when we 
hope that his life will be prolonged to continue the work he 
has so liberally begun. He and I are here to-day as the 
representatives of two eras. In the periodicals at the end 
of each year you will find two characters portrayed. One 
is an old man with long, flowing white locks; lean and 
cadaverous in appearance, with an hour glass in one hand 
and a scythe in the other. He represents the old year that 
is passing away. In opposition to this is a youth with raven 
locks, with buoyant, elastic step and eyes ever looking up- 
ward. He is the new year coming. While we consider 
ourself an unworthy representative of the past and the 
good old times, Mr. Parrish is a much more worthy repre- 
sentative of the good time coming. 

The last quarter of our third century begins under most 
favorable circumstances, and we trust that the peace and 
prosperity of the present will continue to the end. And 
when the century is ended and an abler hand and a more 
eloquent voice will write and tell the story of the past, may 
they have the realization of what we fondly anticipate. 
And there is nothing so firmly impressed upon our mind 
as this: The world is better to-day than it was yesterday! 
And it will be better to-morrow than to-dav. 



MEMORIAL NOTICES 

THE OBJECT OF THESE MEMORIALS 
IS TO KEEP IN REMEMBRANCE THE 
NAMES OF MEN WHO WERE PROMI- 
NENT IN THEIR DAY; WHO WERE 
HONORED DURING THEIR LIVES AND 
WHOSE DEATHS WERE LAMENTED. 




V/fU-KXi ^Sc<^ 



'ju,^^ A . y^<-^ 



George R. Howell 

George Rogers Howell, the eldest son of Captain Charles and 
Mary (Rogers) Howell, was born June 15, 1833. He was seventh 
in the line of descent from Edward Howell, the Founder of 
Southampton. His early education was obtained at Southampton 
Academy. Entering the sophomore class in Yale College, 1851, 
he graduated in 1854. After a few years passed as teacher in 
various places, he entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 
1861, and upon leaving it became pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church in Moscow, Livingston Co., N. Y. In 1865 there was a 
celebration of the 225th Anniversary of the settlement of his 
native town, on which occasion he delivered an address. In the 
following year he published his "Early History of Southampton," 
the first extended history of any town on Long Island. An en- 
larged and greatly improved edition was published in 1887, and 
for his labor the town is under a debt that will never be repaid. 
In 1872 he became assistant librarian in New York State Library 
at Albany, and remained there until the time of his death, 
April 5, 1899. Full honors were paid to his memory in Albany, 
and his remains were conveyed to Mount Morris, Livingston Co., 
N. Y., and his last resting place is marked by a monument bear- 
ing ancestral arms. An elegant memorial was published at the 
same time. A fine portrait is in the Rogers Memorial Library in 
Southampton. 




JAMES H. PIERSON (1891) 



James H, Pierson 

James Henry Pierson, who was during his entire life the 
most popular citizen of the town, was born May 26, 1838 His 
ancestor was Henry Pierson, for many years Town Clerk, and 
whose elegant penmanship adorns our early records His father, 
Capt Philetus Pierson, was for many voyages master of various 
whaling ships, and a much esteemed citizen. His education was 
gained at Southampton Academy, where he was a popular and 
careful student. After holding several minor offices, he was 
elected Supervisor at the Town Meeting of 1881, and held that 
position until 1903 — a longer period than any man since the 
founding of the town, and for many years was Chairman of the 
Board. In 1890 he was elected member of Assembly and served 
for three successive terms and was on several important commit- 
tees, and nothing but the great peculiarity of his nature prevented 
him from being a leader. In 1882 he was chosen Trustee of Sag 
Harbor Savings Bank, and in 1899 was elected President, and held 
that office until his death. When the Southampton Bank was 
established in 1888, his well-known ability and honesty made 
him the first choice for president, and he remained so during life. 
His life of usefulness and honor ended March 28, 1914. His 
funeral was the largest ever held in Southampton, and attended 
by the most prominent men of the county. 

Mr. Pierson was a paradox among men. A man who had no 
confidence in himself, but everybody had confidence in him. 
Constantly distrusting the ability which all men knew he pos- 
sessed. This prevented him from making the prominence in 
legislative halls which he otherwise would have had. 

The portrait of Mr. Pierson was made in 1891. when in the 
prime of life, the best of health, and under the most favorable 
circumstances. A better likeness is impossible 




JONATHAN FITHIAN 



Jonathan Fithian 

Jonathan Fithian, who was so long identified with the public 
affairs of the town of Southampton, was born in East Hampton in 
1796 His ancestor, William Fithian, was one of the earliest 
settlers of that town. He came to Southampton in 1820, with a 
prestige from his native place as a young man of ability, and as 
having been an assistant teacher in Clinton Academy. For 
several years he was teacher in the village school in this place, 
and in 1825 was elected Town Clerk and held that office until 
1844. He was again elected in 1848, and 1849. In 1828 he was 
elected Justice of the Peaee, and continued in that office until 
the time of his death, a period of 37 years, and as "Squire 
Fithian," was universally honored and esteemed. In 1856 he was 
elected Supervisor, and held that office until 1861. In that year 
Col. Edwin Rose was elected to the office, and upon his resigning 
to take part in the Civil War, Mr Fithian was appointed in h.s 
place and was elected 1862, 1863, 1864. To the regret of all who 
knew him, Jonathan Fithian passed away June 4, 1865, leaving 
an honored memory behind. 




REV. SAMUEL E. HERRICK, D. D. 



REV SAMUEL E HERRICK, D. D. 

Samuel Edward Herrick, the seventh in descent from James 
Herrick the first settler, was born April 6th, 1841, and was the 
only son of Captain Austin Herrick and Mary Jagger, his wife. 
His father who was one of the most esteemed citizens of the vill- 
age, was a whaling captain and made thirteen voyages. After 
a course of study at the Southampton Academy he entered the 
Sophomore Class in Amherst College at the age of fifteen and 
graduated with honor in 1859. It was his ambition to be a 
thoroughly educated scholar, and not to be captain of a base ball 
team. Out of twelve men from his native village, who entered 
various colleges at nearly the same time, he was the only one who 
made a reputation for talent and ability. After teaching for two 
years at Bridge Hampton Academy, he entered Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary, and after graduating was ordained pastor of a 
church in Woppinger's Falls, NY. Having received a call to the 
Broadway Congregational Church in Chelsea, Mass., he was pastor 
from 1864 to 1871. He then became Associate Pastor of Mount 
Vernon Church, Boston and then a Pastor till the time of his 
death, December 4, 1904. He received the Degree of Doctor of 
Divinity, from Amherst College in 1878. In 1885 he published 
his only work, "Some Heretics of Yesterday," a book of great 
value and interest. It is to be regretted that no memorial worthy 
of the man and his works has been written. 

His life was a success, a constant advance from good to better. 




JAMES H. FOSTER 



JAMES H. FOSTER 

James Harvey Foster was born in Southampton, 
September 15th, 1840. He was the seventh genera- 
tion in descent from Christopher Foster, the first 
settler of the name. His education was obtained 
at the public school, and in Southampton Academy 
where he was a very diligent and thorough scholar, 
The remainder of his life was passed on his 
father's farm in his native village. After the 
death of Jonathan Fithian, Esq., in 1864, he was 
elected Justice of the Peace, and held that position 
till the time of his death. His extensive informa- 
tion and knowledge of human nature, combined 
with sound sense and rare good judgment, made 
him especially fitted for the office, which he held 
so acceptably for many years. When the Union 
School was established he selected a lot, negoti- 
ated the purchase, and from his ardent sympathy 
in the movement, justly merited the title of 
Founder of the Union School, and a life-like por- 
trait is in the principal school room. He died 
suddenly, September 6, 1891. His monument bears 
the well merited inscription. 

"For 20 years Magistrate of Southampton, and 
Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and in all the 
relations of life a useful and honored man." 




WILLIAM R. POST, deeo) 



WILLIAM R. POST 

William Rogers Post, the sixth in line of descent from Lieut. 
Richard Post, was born April 8, 1811. On his mother's side he 
was descended from Obadiah Rogers, the founder of a family al- 
ways prominent in the town. His younger years were past, like 
all boys of his time, working on the farm in the summer, or at- 
tending the district school in the winter. At the age of nineteen 
he went on a whaling voyage in the ship "Phoenix." Capt. Henry 
Green. He afterwards made several voyages, in all a period of 
five years. The next two years were spent at home, and he 
then went to Sag Harbor and became a partner in business 
with Judge John Osborn, and for a part of the time was ship 
agent. When the whale fishery came to an end, he returned to 
Southampton in 1852. A fortunate speculation in oil and bone 
had given him a fortune and he at once took a prominent position, 
built the finest home in the village, and in all things was the fore 
most man in Church, Sunday School, Village, Town and County. 
In 1852 he was elected Supervisor and held the office for five years. 
In 1865 he was again elected and occupied that office for twelve 
years During that time he was the most prominent man on the 
committee for building the Court House and Jail and the Alms 
House at Yaphank For these and for railroad purposes he ne- 
gotiated the sale of bonds to the extent of $200,000. The great 
characteristic of Mr. Post was, that whatever he did was done well. 
If he had an elevated opinion of his own importance, which he 
took no pains to conceal, it certainly rested upon a good founda- 
tion, and if he expended upon work more time and labor than 
was necessary, it was no detriment to the work nor the person 
for whom it was done His useful life ended May 14, 1889. 




ALBERT JESSUP POST 



ALBERT JESSUP POST. 

Albert Jessup Post, the seventh in the line of descent from Lieut. 
Richard Post, was born June 12, 1832. His father, Capt. George Post, was 
a whaling captain who made many successful voyages, and was a man of 
sterling character, of extended information, and a very influential citizen. 
His mother was Parmelia Jessup, a grand daughter of Major Zebulon Jessup, 
a prominent man of his time, and extensively engaged in business. His early 
education was obtained in the village school, and in Southampton Academy, 
where he was known as one of the best scholars. In 1833 he was teacher in 
the "North End School." In 1838 he was elected Town Clerk, and held 
that office for four years. For forty-one years he was one of the Trustees of 
the town. In 1857 he was elected Commissioner of Highways, which position 
he held for many years, and in 1894. was elected Assessor. All these offices 
he held with the greatest credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his fellow 
citizens. When the "New Southampton" was established in 1894, he was 
elected President of the village. In his younger years he was a very efficient 
member of the Volunteer Life Saving Company and helped rescue the crews 
of many vessels. During the Civil war he was commissioned by Gov. 
Seymour 2d Lieutenant in the State militia. He was a man of sound 
judgment, and faithful to all duties committed to his charge. He died, much 
lamented, August 7, 1907. 



